(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Dawson Thompson

Council decision

City to look at effects of implementing Truth and Reconciliation ‘Calls to Action’

Aug 17, 2021 | 2:00 PM

Prince Albert City council unanimously passed a motion that will help them better understand how to implement calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and what the city has already done.

The motion was originally put forward by Councillor Terra Lennox-Zepp. She wanted council to implement three specific calls to action including number 43 which calls on the municipal government to ‘fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation.’

Councillor, Tony Head, who seconded the motion, suggested three other actions from the commission’s report be implemented too.

At the last council meeting, Head had voiced his concerns in a passionate speech about the city not doing enough to carry out the commission’s recommendations.

Mayor Greg Dionne said he couldn’t support the motion as it stood because he was unsure of what impact the calls to action would have on the city.

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“I don’t know what [number] 43 is,” Dionne said in the meeting on Monday. “I don’t shoot from the hip and approve things that I don’t have knowledge of, so I can’t approve your motion unless you retitle it and ask for a report.

“I don’t have the knowledge and I’m the first one to admit I haven’t studied them. So, before we make a decision, I’d like that information.”

Coun. Tony Head was quick to point out the commission’s report was released in 2015 and said he was shocked to hear the mayor had not read it in the last six years. Dionne clarified, ‘I did read it. I didn’t study it.’

Councillors Dennis Ogrodnick and Ted Zurakowski both agreed council needs to be more informed on what the city has already done and what the impact of recommendations would have.

“I think the bigger picture is let’s learn about the entire calls to action and then how can we as a city implement those calls to action. What are we doing? As councillor Zurakowski said, what are we doing well? Are we doing anything well? What can we do moving forward and not just pass a bunch of motions that could perhaps become meaningless,” Ogrodnick added.

Coun. Lennox-Zepp agreed to change her motion and instead asked for administration to prepare the report which will detail what the city has already done, ask the City of Saskatoon how they’ve implemented calls to action and consult with the Prince Albert Grand Council and Métis governance. That changed motion was passed unanimously.

“Whatever we can do to implement them,” Head said. “If that is what it going to take to get these calls to action in the City of Prince Albert then I will let my name stand as a seconder.”

In an interview with paNOW, Head added, “As a city with over 40 per cent Indigenous population, it is necessary that we implement the calls to action that are specifically geared towards municipal governments to ensure we do whats best for Prince Albert always. I understand we have done some work towards achieving some of those calls to action and I do look forward to that report from administration to find ways to build on what we’ve already done.”

Lennox-Zepp thanked Head for his ‘impactful words’ at the last meeting that influenced her to put the motion forward.

“I think it’s the beginning of a long discussion we’ll be having at council after this report,” she said.

The report is expected from administration within 90 days.

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Dawson.thompson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @dawsonthompson8