Victoria council will vote next month on whether to collect reconciliation donations from residents that would be passed on to the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations.
A city council committee voted in favour of including in the annual property-tax mailout a letter inviting property taxpayers to make a voluntary contribution of any amount that would be collected by the city. The money would then be sent to the Nations alongside the city’s own $200,000 reconciliation grant.
The donations would be entirely voluntary and could be made by anyone. Council will vote on the proposal on April 7.
Mayor Lisa Helps, who was behind the proposal, said the Nations, through decolonization, have been removed from the territory. “And those of us who now live in the heart of the territory benefit from the wealth generated from their lands,” she said.
“So, this proposal is really to recognize the principle of reciprocity and responsibility to the Indigenous Nations on whose lands the city is built.”
Helps said she has heard the concerns raised about the rising cost of living and the timing of the initiative, but in the context of the discovery of children’s gravesites outside residential schools, many residents had asked what they could do.
“This is one more tool in a reconciliation toolbox for residents, for those who feel moved and motivated to make a contribution to the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations through this program,” she said. “We don’t want to pressure people, we really do want this to come from people’s hearts. Which is why it’s entirely voluntary, and why it’s tied to property taxes because we generate wealth from lands that aren’t ours.”
The proposal was approved by all at committee except Coun. Stephen Andrew, who said the process was cooked up behind closed doors and the city has no place doing such a thing.
“This is not our jurisdiction,” he said. “This is not our place. And for these reasons, I believe we shouldn’t be doing it.
“I support reconciliation efforts. However, this motion is yet another foray by this council into what is plainly provincial and federal jurisdiction. There is nothing preventing anyone from donating money to anyone they like, including First Nations.”
Coun. Jeremy Loveday, who supported and signed onto the motion proposal, said it was misleading for Andrew to suggest there was anything wrong with how the proposal came together.
Loveday called the initiative a meaningful action that allows the city to help the public take steps towards reconciliation.
“I think the proposal is administratively cost-effective and is a way that the public can voluntarily contribute, should they want to, towards reconciliation efforts in a financial way,” he said.
