The City of Saskatoon is moving ahead on implementing recommendations from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
A report is set to go before council this Monday Oct. 19 that outlines where the city is at in terms of addressing TRC recommendations.
City Director of Aboriginal Relations Gilles Dorval says Saskatoon is taking a community-based approach when it comes to the recommendations.
“We want to try to involve the community more in the whole idea of reconciliation,” he says. “If we are going to move forward, it’s going to take a community to work together to help Aboriginal people into obtaining a better quality of life.”
Saskatoon is also embarking on a number of other Aboriginal inclusion initiatives.
These initiatives include making it mandatory for all Saskatoon Police Service employees to receive cultural awareness training and providing a $150,000 grant to the upcoming World Indigenous Business Forum.
Dorval says the city is also going over much of its existing programming to ensure that it is inclusive.
“Some of the work that we want to do is review all of our city policies and programs with an Aboriginal lens and make sure there’s no barriers to Aboriginal people and that everybody has the opportunity to enjoy a good quality of life.”
The City of Saskatoon will also be hosting an upcoming forum, along with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner and Conference Board of Canada, on Dec. 3 to discuss best practices in furthering reconciliation.