Sarnia City Council adopts a land declaration to be spoken before each Council meeting
By Colin Graf
SARNIA— With guidance from a committee with members from three area First Nations, Sarnia City Council here has adopted a land declaration to be spoken before each Council meeting.
The declaration was adopted after being written by a committee set up two years ago to help implement recommendations of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). On Feb. 10, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley read the declaration for the first time.
“In the spirit of peace and friendship, we honour the Anishinabek of the Three Fires Confederacy on whose traditional territory we are gathered. The City of Sarnia has resolved to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
Aamjiwnaang First Nation Councillor and committee member Marina Plain and Mayor Bradley both herald the new declaration as an important step in building reconciliation in their region, yet both feel the need for more efforts. Plain is happy that the declaration is now being used, as it is “long overdue,” but the controversy swirling over rail blockades and the Wet’suwet’en dispute with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in British Columbia leaves her very concerned about reconciliation efforts. The principles of the UNDRIP were adopted by the B.C. government, the first province to do so, “and now they’re going against the UNDRIP principles,” she says. Article 10 of the agreement says governments cannot forcibly remove indigenous people from their territory.
“Land acknowledgements are great, but what actions are being taken” not only locally, but nationally, she asks? “This is affecting our people right now.”
Plain expects the city working group, which also includes members from Chippewas of Kettle & Stony Point and Bkejwanong (Walpole Island) First Nations, Sarnia City Council, Lambton College, local business, and others from the settler community, will continue its work.
City Council has also decided to fly the flags of the three First Nations at Centennial Park along Sarnia’s waterfront on the St. Clair River, and Plain’s group is putting final touches on a “culture card,” or booklet, about the early First Nations history of the region that will be available in places such as City Hall and local tourism outlets.
“We have a good working relationship. Everybody is positive and proactive [with] great ideas for promoting community awareness of Anishinaabe practices, history and our culture [in Sarnia],” she says. “We have lots of ideas.”
Some of these ideas include a mini-conference or awareness event to showcase First Nations contributions, and joining forces with local group, One Book Lambton, promoting one book all local residents are being encouraged to read. The group selected The Reason You Walk by Manitoba First Nations’ author Wab Kinew as the most recent selection.
Plain also says she is concerned about some street names in Sarnia, such as Indian Road, a major north-south route. To change the name would be a major undertaking but it has “so much to do with colonization.”
“I would like to see us working on that,” she says. “Sometimes the language sets us back.”
Mayor Bradley says the land declaration is “fine”, but there needs to be a real commitment at the local level to meaningful steps on reconciliation.
“There has to be some meaning to it, not just something to read out at the beginning of a meeting,” he says. “It’s just one small step in the scheme of things.”
He is hoping for “a comprehensive package of measures” from the working group on implementing the UNDRIP at a municipal level.
“The issues are much deeper than just reading land declarations,” Bradley says.
He often makes school visits and is looking forward to discussing the declaration with students. Bradley adds that he likes to explain the reasoning behind the declaration as it opens the door for discussions around reconciliation.
The Mayor also explains that the city government has taken actions in the past regarding its neighbouring First Nation. Aamjiwnaang’s territory was 16,000 acres at one time and is now down to 4,000.
According to Mayor Bradley, the city of Sarnia was a big part of the erosion of Aamjiwnaang’s territory. He says that when the city went to the Ontario Municipal Board in the 1950s, somehow the city gained 5,000 acres of the First Nation’s territory.
“That’s something I’m very conscious of,” he says.
The UNDRIP group is not the only forum for dialogue between Sarnia and First Nations, the Mayor points out. He explains that he meets at least four times a year with Aamjiwnaang Chief Christopher Plain and city staff often check in with employees of the First Nation, given that the city and Aamjiwnaang are side-by-side, and share many municipal services
“That working relationship is there on a fairly constant basis,” Bradley says. “Sarnia and Aamjiwnaang signed a cooperation protocol and a water and sewer agreement in 2017 that marked a positive change.”
Service agreements over fire, water, police, and sewage have been in place between the partners since the 1950s, but were outdated and were written in antiquated “colonial language.”
Former Aamjiwnaang First Nation Chief Joanne Rogers said in 2017 that the agreement will help economic development for Aamjiwnaang by clarifying “who we have to call” at City Hall to discuss cost-sharing or locating infrastructure for new buildings.
Bradley also points to the fact both Chief Plain and Chief Dan Miskokomon of Bkejwanong will be going with him to speak with Health Minister Christine Elliott in Toronto about delays in the funding for a detox facility for the area.
It’s important for the leadership of First Nations and Canadian politicians to get to know each other, says Bradley, referencing the recent pipeline disputes and rail blockades.
“The key is, if you don’t know each other before an issue like that, you’re not going to get very far trying to get to know each other in the middle of the crisis,” he says. “It’s that on-going day-to-day [contact that creates trust]’.