2025 R14 – Funding Indigenous Governments’ Engagement in Local Government Planning Activities
- Year: 2025
- AVICC Number: R14
- UBCM Number: EB52
- Cowichan Valley RD
Whereas the Province of BC is implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) and is required to take a distinctions-based approach in all of its relations with Indigenous peoples to ensure that unique rights, interests, and circumstances of Indigenous peoples are acknowledged, affirmed and implemented;
And whereas local governments are committed to reconciliation and seek meaningful engagement with Indigenous governments in community and regional planning activities, such as climate mitigation and adaptation plans, emergency management plans, regional growth and servicing strategies, and official community plans, that may uphold the unique rights, interests, and circumstances of Indigenous peoples:
Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the Province of BC provide dedicated funding streams to support Indigenous governments’ participation in local government community and regional planning activities to support reconciliation and implementation of DRIPA.
- Year: 2025
- AVICC Number: R14
- Sponsor: Cowichan Valley RD
- Resolution Type: Provincial
- Category: Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation
- AVICC Decision: Endorsed
- AVICC Action: Education Session, Forwarded to UBCM
- AVICC Response link
- UBCM Number: EB52
- UBCM Decision: Endorsed
- Provincial Response:Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs The Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation MIRR and the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs HMA recognize the importance of local governments working with First Nations on local planning initiatives to help advance reconciliation. The Province is committed to having open, honest conversations with local governments about their finance system and how to collaborate to better serve British Columbians. The Ministry of Finance, HMA, and UBCM are working to find ways to strengthen the financial resiliency of local governments and address cost drivers local governments may be experiencing. MIRR and HMA appreciate that local and First Nation governments need support in undertaking engagement with First Nations governments in their work. The Community-to-Community C2C Forum program includes criteria scope for proponent local governments and First Nations to undertake activities that work toward: - Strengthening relationships and fostering future co-operative action by building stronger links between First Nation and local government elected officials and senior staff; - Supporting local reconciliation efforts, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNDRIP, and shared capacity building; andor - Developing or improving coordinated approaches to climate change emergency preparation, mitigation, response and recovery. Funded by HMA and Indigenous Services Canada, for over 25 years the C2C Forum program has played a critical role in funding events so local governments and First Nation governments can build relationships, support reconciliation efforts, and resolve issues of common interest. The program has a wide scope so communities can discuss and work on economic, environmental, health, and safety matters. More recently, additional funding has helped to widen the scope of the program to include the advancement of tangible outcomes. These include the development of agreements such as protocols, MOUs, and service agreements, joint plans, andor strategies that advance First Nationlocal government reconciliation and relationship building. The program originated from the success of the first province-wide C2C Forum in January 1997 and has to date funded over 600 events across the province.
- UBCM Response link
The AVICC acknowledges that we are grateful to live, work, and play on the traditional territories of theCoast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwak-Waka’wakw Peoples