Co-Management of Vancouver Parklands with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations

Last night, in a 5-2 vote, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation voted to "to explore opportunities with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (“the three Nations”) for co-management of parklands within their own respective territories that are currently under Park Board jurisdiction per the Vancouver Charter". 

These are my introductory remarks upon moving the motion:

At the start of each of our meetings, in the spirit of reconciliation, we make a land acknowledgment. This is an important statement recognizing where we are. But reconciliation has to be more than just words. There must be action as well as words. In her book ‘Indian in the Cabinet: Speaking truth to power’ the Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould reminds us that “Words, in the work of reconciliation, are also cheap without real action—action that goes to the core of undoing the colonial laws, policies, and practices, and that is based on the real meaning of reconciliation” (176)

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation is, I believe at the forefront of this work, and I want to thank the entire Decolonization, Arts and Culture team for the incredible work they are doing. I want to thank all of our staff for embracing reconciliation as a foundational principle.

The spirit of this motion is for the Park Board to again put reconciliation into action. The motion calls for the Park Board to initiate a conversation with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations on ways for them to work with the Park Board on managing parklands within their respective territories that fall under our jurisdiction. 

This motion seeks to move closer to reconciliation with past decisions that impact our city today. Many of our parks and beaches are on land that has been integral to the First Peoples of this area for millennia. Villages, camps, food gathering sites, and burial sites are situated on the land we manage and have jurisdiction over. This motion seeks to recognize this fact.

The motion asks staff to explore with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations and report back on recommendations for co-management of parklands within their own respective territories that are currently under Park Board jurisdiction per the Vancouver Charter. The motion calls on our staff, including our legal staff, to work with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations to define what co-management means in the context of Vancouver parklands and once that definition is agreed upon to then develop a plan for co-management. 

The motion does not have any pre-determined outcomes, nor does it set out how the process will unfold. It asks our staff to work with the Nations to create this process and then develop how this idea can be fulfilled. 

In 2018, when the Park Board approved the Colonial Audit, Chief Ian Campbell of the Squamish Nation stated, “First Nations can be more involved in decision-making, economic opportunities, and environmental stewardship”. This motion seeks to recognize this and act upon it.

Stewardship of our parklands is of ever-increasing importance as we become a denser city and parks and greenspaces become more important to the residents. The First Peoples have been stewards of this land since time immemorial and we newcomers have much to learn. We must seek traditional knowledge, as well as new knowledge, as we tend to these precious spaces. 

Jody Wilson-Raybould also states “to address the legacy of colonialism in this country, the colonizers are going to need to learn a lot from those they sought to colonize. Not just to confront their own actions, ignorance, and systemic racism, but to actually make Canadian institutions and modes of governing better by learning the values, principles, and practices that uphold Indigenous governments and societies…” (265)

This motion seeks to be another step in that direction. By acknowledging the land, and by recognizing that colonial ways of doing things are not the only ways of doing things; by seeking help from the indigenous people of this land and working with them, we can have better parks in Vancouver. We can have parks that recognize the natural history and the human history, and prepare our public spaces for a future where all are welcome and that will last millennia to come.

Time is well past due to address climate change, for our own sake

Recent events only confirm the environmental threat's real

Vancouver Sun 22 Jan 2022

Stuart Mackinnon says. 

The recent storms have shown how vulnerable Vancouver's coastal infrastructure is.

The seawall around Stanley Park sustained major damage. Our beaches, coastal parks and pathways were inundated with water and aquatic debris. Piers were torn up, logs tossed about on beaches and damage caused to our waterfront access. This, on top of the earlier damage from the atmospheric river event that pushed a barge so far onto Sunset Beach that the owners and federal government are still unsure of how they're going to remove it.

These events have a lot of people talking. Some of that talk has been irresponsible speculation, some has been hair-pulling and teeth-gnashing apocalyptic chatter and some has questioned the benefits of maintaining a fortress-like wall around the city.

What we need is less self-righteous indignation and more co-operation to support our park board workers as they navigate the difficult tasks involved in fully reopening the parks. This includes staying off the seawall while repairs are done.

The seawall is a much-loved amenity — loved by residents and visitors alike. Our staff will be working to clear the debris, analyze the damage and seek the quickest and most cost-efficient ways to safely repair and reopen it.

However, we as a city need to think about how these changing climate events are impacting our infrastructure. If, as many believe, these aren't anomalous events, but in fact a new normal, then we need to be planning for infrastructure that can withstand these events.

Projections for sea level rise vary widely. However, after the year 2050, it's projected to rise from 60 centimetres over current levels to more than six metres over current levels by

We can no longer afford the luxury of putting off climate mitigation. We must find ways to both allay the dangers coming and work together to reduce our ecological footprint.

2100. The province of B.C. currently recommends using half a metre for planning to 2050, one metre to 2100 and two metres to 2200. Unfortunately, historic sea-level rise can't be used to predict future increases given the increasing pace of climate change.

To protect vulnerable areas, the City of Vancouver estimates it will need to invest $1 billion in flood management infrastructure alone by 2100. With climate change and sea-level rise, simply building back to current standards won't be enough.

We need to rethink which amenities are both cost-effective and desired. Every decision we make has a cost attached to it. The park board, like other public and private entities, must now include climate change in those costs — both to build and to maintain infrastructure. And not just new projects; we must re-examine all of our current infrastructure through the lens of climate change and mitigation. We must not only build new and better, but also sustain what we already have.

As we look ahead, this is an excellent chance to work in partnership with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-waututh Peoples, who have lived on these lands since time immemorial, to learn about these iconic places and their experience working with the land and sea. Their knowledge will be imperative so that we don't repeat mistakes we may have made in the past.

Vancouver isn't unique in this situation. Coastal cities around the world are faced with the same dilemmas. Whole nations face being swamped by ever-rising oceans. We can no longer afford the luxury of putting off climate mitigation. We must find ways to both allay the dangers coming and work together to reduce our ecological footprint that is driving climate change.

Pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth is neither useful, nor productive. It's time to work together for the benefit of all.

Stuart Mackinnon is a Green party commissioner and chair of the Vancouver park board.