Council defers decision on genocide motion

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This article was published 02/05/2023 (869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon City Council will decide at a later date whether to acknowledge Canada’s residential school system as an act of genocide after hearing from supporters of the motion at Monday’s council meeting.

Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2) submitted a motion calling for the acknowledgment, but Coun. Glen Parker (Ward 9) successfully called for that motion to be deferred until Oct. 16.

In calling for the delay, Parker emphasized he acknowledges the harm done by residential schools but wanted the city to ensure there are no potential legal consequences from passing such a motion.

Councillors voted 7-4 to delay the decision. Desjarlais, Heather Karrouze (Ward 1), Shaun Cameron (Ward 4) and Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) voted against the deferral.

Arguing for the acknowledgment was Maeengan Linklater, director of operations for Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council and a member of the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council. BUAPC passed a motion in March calling for the city to make the acknowledgment.

During his presentation, Linklater said he knew there were people at the council table who had their hesitations about the motion, but it takes courage to recognize a dark part of Canadian history.

He also made it clear that he wasn’t presenting to try to browbeat council to decide on the matter.

Linklater compared efforts to have the residential school system acknowledged as an act of genocide to similar efforts made by Jewish people to have the Holocaust recognized as such.

This has been done through the passage of legislation or through acknowledgments made by legislative bodies.

The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide lists five acts that are considered to be genocide as “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”

One of those acts is “forcibly transferring children of the group to another group,” which Linklater said happened when Canada required Indigenous kids to attend residential schools.

He also cited Pope Francis’ words from his visit to Canada last year in which he described the residential school system as a genocide.

Locally, at the Brandon Indian Residential School, Linklater said abuses of the system included forcing children to undergo testing for extra-sensory perception without parental consent.

By acknowledging the system as an act of genocide, Linklater said it is a chance for reconciliation and an opportunity to educate Canadians about the impact of colonization.

The House of Commons made a similar acknowledgment last year after Winnipeg NDP MP Leah Gazan brought forward a motion, which received unanimous consent.

The text of the acknowledgment on Monday stated that Brandon City Council believes the federal government should recognize the residential school system as an act of genocide, following similar acknowledgments by the House of Commons and Pope Francis last year.

Luebke asked Linklater what the impact of the city’s declaration would be and whether it would be used as a lobbying tool.

“There will be no visible repercussions, per se,” Linklater said. “What I think is that this will help create a bridge between two communities.”

Linklater pointed to what happened with the recognition of the Armenian genocide, noting acknowledgments by cities in Quebec eventually led to a recognition at the federal level.

Coun. Shawn Berry (Ward 7) said that while he appreciates the work the city does with BUAPC, he was concerned about the potential legal aspects of such a declaration or if it was better left in the realms of higher levels of government. Linklater said he did not believe there would be any legal issues resulting from the declaration.

Going over the text of the acknowledgment, Mayor Jeff Fawcett wondered why it states the city calls on the federal government.

“I’m comfortable doing something local,” Fawcett said. “Why do we need to bring in the federal government?”

Though the House of Commons has already made a declaration, Linklater said Brandon’s acknowledgment could help push for further chance. For instance, he said the Criminal Code of Canada only recognizes two of the five definitions of genocide listed by the United Nations.

After Linklater’s presentation, Desjarlais put the motion on the table. In advocating for the acknowledgment, he said it would be a symbolic gesture toward reconciliation, one the federal government has already made in a non-partisan manner.

He pointed out the mayor regularly makes proclamations recognizing national and international events.

Earlier in the meeting, community co-ordinator Michèle LeTourneau provided an update on BUAPC’s recent activities, including planning for this year’s Truth and Reconciliation Week events.

So far, BUAPC has received $10,000 from the United Church of Canada and $20,000 from the City of Brandon for the event. Combined with a $10,000 surplus from last year, organizers are slightly under halfway toward the proposed budget of $110,000.

The biggest change from previous years, LeTourneau said, is to increase the number of school visits being made by Indigenous knowledge keepers to three days. This, she said, requires recruiting more knowledge keepers to avoid burning anyone out.

This year’s programming aims to have a diverse set of teachings from Ashinabek, Cree, Métis, Inuit and Dakota groups to reflect the diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada and to dispel any notions that all Indigenous groups are identical.

A group working on finding Indigenous names for sites and trails along the Assiniboine River and near the Riverbank Discovery Centre has proposed the centre be given the name “Zitkada Duta Winyan,” which translates to “Red Bird Woman.”

That’s the Dakota name of Marina Tacan, a local elder and residential school survivor who recalls camping at the site as a child.

Work to find Indigenous names for Brandon streets continues, with BUAPC looking for representatives from local language groups and doing research into local Indigenous history.

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