The City of Vancouver is moving forward with efforts to implement “calls to action” contained in a document produced by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

In a report going before council on Tuesday, January 19, the city identifies 27 specific policies it deems fall within municipal jurisdiction.

Those programs can broadly be described as intended to improve the lives of First Nations and aboriginal people. They cover a range of policy areas, including health and community wellness, education and professional development, and indigenous rights and recognition.

Specifically, the staff report recommends the City of Vancouver “adopt in principle” plans to provide additional grants to aboriginal organizations working in communities, provide one-time funding for two aboriginal healing and wellness centres, and that it work to develop new programs for aboriginal children and youth.

“Vancouver is a young place in comparison to the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations who have cared for these lands and waters since time immemorial,” the staff report reads. “It is time that this City recognize how much greater it could be by the acknowledgment of these Nations – important work that is already underway through our growing relations and aspirations with reconciliation.

“The TRC has provided us with perhaps the hardest truths about this country ever confronted,” it continues. “The injustices faced by generations of residential school survivors continue to impact Indigenous communities today. There is a role for the City in supporting reconciliation efforts for those wrongs.”