Official Community Plan

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RECONCILIATION

“Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. For that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, acknowledgment of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for causes, and action to change behaviour.” – Canada’s residential schools: Reconciliation. The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume 6. 2015.

The UNDRIP (2007) is a comprehensive international instrument on the basic human rights of Indigenous peoples around the world. It sets out a broad range of collective and individual rights that constitute the minimum standards to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples and to contribute to their survival, dignity, and well-being. It also affirms that Indigenous peoples are free from discrimination of any kind and recognizes the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples.

Following the federal government’s first announcement on its commitment to adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2016, and the provincial government’s adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in 2019, the City of Courtenay Council passed a resolution in 2020 that the UNDRIP be its framework for Indigenous reconciliation. Subsequently, the Federal UNDRIP Act received royal assent on June 21, 2021.

City of Courtenay Official Community Plan