First Nations Engagement Update Report - Nov 2021

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Islands Trust Briefing Page 1 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
To: Trust Council  For the Meeting of: November 30, 2021 
     
From: Lisa Wilcox, SIPA  Date Prepared: November 12, 2021 
     
SUBJECT:
  
Engagement and Intergovernmental Relations between Islands Trust and First Nations 
and Other Agencies – Quarterly Report August 2021 to mid-November 2021 
 
 
PURPOSE: The purpose of this briefing is to provide a Quarterly Report that outlines the facilitation 
and work that was undertaken by the Islands Trust to create understanding and mutually respectful 
relationships within the Islands Trust Area with Indigenous and non-Indigenous community and families, 
First Nations representatives, governments, and Treaty Alliances, along with interagency collaboration 
and meetings.  Each quarter the Islands Trust staff and various trustees may engage in early and 
meaningful dialogue with First Nations governments and their representatives at a government-to-
government level. 
BACKGROUND:   
As part of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action
1
 it is the responsibility of government bodies to 
seek to implement reconciliation within their communities.  There is no blueprint for reconciliation; it is 
a long-term commitment to understanding truth, and reconciling past wrongs.  Many government 
bodies are seeking different approaches guided by the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action (TRC) and 
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), and the provincial 
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).  The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) 
has encouraged local government to implement reconciliation principles and move forward with 
building relationships with First Nations and Indigenous communities
2
.  As well, both the federal and 
provincial government have outlined principles for all civil and public servants to guide their 
engagement and interactions
3
.   
As we move forward on the journey of reconciliation there is an expectation by First Nations to engage 
at a government-to-government level to address past wrongs, collaborate on land use decision making, 
and for local governments to implement UNDRIP.  Within the Islands Trust Area there is a diverse range 
of First Nations governments
4
, treaty organizations and alliances
5
 with whom the Islands Trust has a 
                                            
1
 Call to Action #47. We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to repudiate concepts used to 
justify European sovereignty over Indigenous peoples and lands, such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius, and to 
reform those laws, government policies, and litigation strategies that continue to rely on such concepts. 
 
2
 https://www.ubcm.ca/policy-areas/reconciliation-relationships 
 
3
 https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/careers/about-the-bc-public-service/diversity-inclusion-respect/draft_principles.pdf 
(provincial principles)  https://www.justice.gc.

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