Promote and support formal Indigenous stewardship of public green spaces in the City of St. John’s, such as parks and gardens.

City of St. John’s & Parks Canada: Initial steps towards a National Urban Park with Indigenous stewardship

The City of St. John’s and Parks Canada announced in July 2024 that they intend to work together toward establishing a National Urban Park in St. John’s. These parks are meant to “foster meaningful partnerships and enable leadership by Indigenous peoples based on their level of interest. This includes supporting a renewed approach to Indigenous stewardship centered around a vision of management and governance that is respectfully aligned with Indigenous ways of stewarding lands, water, and ice. National urban parks will support culture-based programming and activities to facilitate learning opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.”

City of St. John’s & First Light: Knowledge shared during Indigenize Downtown Community Feast

Themes from the discussion which relate to this Call for Change include a lack of spaces where Indigenous ceremonies and land-based programming can happen, a need for more vegetation, discomfort with the exclusion of Indigenous people from the version of history presented in storyboards around Harbourside Park and the War Memorial, and a lack of Indigenous representation in downtown public spaces, particularly Bannerman Park which is well used by local Indigenous people. (See Call for Change 13 for more information on the event.)

For the City of St. John’s:

• Ensure that the establishment of any National Urban Park in St. John’s aligns with the urban Indigenous community’s priorities as identified through the Joint Coordinating Committee on Indigenous Rights.