First Voice and St. John’s Form Committee on Indigenous Rights

The City of St. John’s and First Voice Urban Indigenous Coalition have formed a Joint Coordinating Committee on Indigenous Rights that will provide recommendations for implementing the City of St. John’s commitments outlined in the Council’s 2020 Declaration in Support of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The committee will strengthen collaboration to advance the urban Indigenous coalition’s 2023 Community Action Plan and its 42 Calls for Change. Eighteen of those Calls fall partly or exclusively within the City’s jurisdiction.

To meet its goals, the committee will be responsible for the following functions:

• Reviewing relevant City processes, procedures, policies, and bylaws;

• Developing initiatives to make the City of St. John’s more fully inclusive of urban Indigenous Peoples;

• Coordinating, conducting, and supporting evidence-based research;

• Identifying funding opportunities and securing resources;

• Reviewing opportunities for Indigenous stewardship of parks and open spaces;

• Exploring the feasibility of a monument to honour residential school survivors, their families, and those who never made it home; and

• Improving the visibility of Indigenous cultures, languages, and place names.