First Voice has released its 10-year community action plan, a document that includes 42 calls for change aimed at advancing truth and reconciliation at the local level.
The plan, entitled Our Shared Vision: A Path Toward Truth and Reconciliation in St. John’s, includes recommendations divided into four action areas: Education, Training and Employment, Housing and Homelessness, Infrastructure and Service Delivery, and Justice and Human Rights.
Some of the 42 recommendations include redevelopment of the K-12 school system to better include Indigenous history, culture and language, supporting efforts to implement a universal basic income, de-colonization of the St. John’s Municipal Plan, and establishment of a “highly visible” monument in the city to honour residential school victims.
First Voice is also seeking a formal apology from the provincial government for what they call the “legacy of harm that resulted from the exclusion of Indigenous Peoples in the Terms of Union with Canada in 1949.”
The organization’s director of strategic partnerships, Justin Campbell, says that’s an important step in resetting the relationship between the province and Indigenous groups.
Campbell says an apology and recognition of the legacy of colonialism and the harm it continues to cause is “essential” toward that goal, noting it requires no additional resources and work on it can begin immediately.
