Decolonize the City of St. John’s municipal plan and all related processes, procedures, and policies, including the heritage bylaw.

City of St. John’s & First Light: Formal partnership to coordinate action 

A Joint Coordinating Committee on Indigenous Rights between First Voice and the City of St. John’s was formed, first meeting in January 2024. The committee will support City Council in the decolonization of the municipal plan and related processes, procedures, and policies. The scope of this Call for Change is significant, however, and can be expected to take many years to complete. The formation of the Joint Coordinating Committee will support longer term efforts in this regard.

The Indigenize Downtown Community Feast was an important source of knowledge sharing to inform the Downtown Neighbourhood Plan. (See Call for Change 13 for more information on the event.)

As a part of increasing visibility of the urban Indigenous population, the Joint Coordinating committee on Indigenous Rights is working on reviewing artwork at City Hall to identify existing artwork by Indigenous artists and problematic depictions of Indigenous people, as well as procuring new Indigenous artwork for the Council chambers. These efforts intend to remind City Councillors of the current and growing presence of urban Indigenous people in St. John’s when they are making decisions that affect the citizens of St. John’s.

For St. John’s City Council:

• Allocate appropriate resources in the upcoming budget cycle to provide research and policy development support for the Joint Coordinating Committee on Indigenous Rights to create a comprehensive multi-year work plan, prioritizing Calls for Change 19 and 40.