March 10, 2023
The BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) and First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) are calling for swift action following the racist and disturbing mistreatment of a First Nations man who is a beloved Cultural Advisor and staff member of the BCAAFC by the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. We call on the Hyatt Regency to uphold the safety of Indigenous peoples, to provide mandatory anti-racism training for all staff, to demonstrate accountability for the harm they have caused, and to offer a public apology.
From February 23-25 BCAAFC hosted a membership meeting at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver hotel for staff and youth from 25 BC Friendship Centres. After dinner on Friday, February 24, the respected Cultural Advisor and community member needed to use the restroom urgently. He sought the closest available restroom where the BCAAFC meetings had occurred over the previous two days in the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
He was refused access to the restroom by a Hyatt Regency employee, despite repeated pleas to use the toilet. After a fourth and urgent request to enter the restroom, the Hyatt Regency again barred access until the Cultural Advisor could no longer control their need to use the toilet, resulting in a public and humiliating incident. Nearby onlookers witnessed the incident take place. The Cultural Advisor recounts how the Hyatt Regency employee mocked them and smirked after noticing their wet clothing. The BCAAFC Cultural Advisor was extremely humiliated and traumatized.
The Hyatt Regency employee allowed the BCAAFC Cultural Advisor access to the washroom only after it was too late.
Furthermore, the response from Hyatt Regency management has failed to acknowledge this act of anti-Indigenous racism and harm, and the larger issue of systemic racism that so commonly targets Indigenous people.
After being initially dismissed by upper management, the Cultural Advisor received a brief apology that interpreted the incident as a “misunderstanding,” that the staff person was “only doing his job,” and offered a meagre breakfast voucher as compensation.
The day after the incident, BCAAFC Executive Director Leslie Varley was denied the opportunity to speak with higher level management about this violation of a human right. After learning of the incident, BCAAFC staff pre-emptively concluded the meeting at the Hyatt Regency and withdrew from the hotel to safeguard our community from further violence and racism.
The behaviour of the Hyatt Regency employee and response from management was abhorrent, unreasonable, and displayed a gross lack of respect for the dignity and well-being of the respected knowledge keeper. It must be made clear that the discriminatory refusal of a person’s basic needs was the result of systemic anti-Indigenous racism and is nothing short of a human rights violation. Corporations that profit from our community must be made aware that mistreatment and anti-Indigenous racism will be called out and investigated with immediacy.
We have significant concerns for the safety of Indigenous peoples at Hyatt Regency that must be addressed. Over the past eight months BCAAFC staff have planned the upcoming March 22-25 Gathering Our Voices (GOV): Indigenous Youth Leadership Training event to take place at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.
We cannot, in good conscience, allow a gathering of 1,000 Indigenous youth take place at a venue where violence and racism have recently occurred and may occur again. BCAAFC is now actively seeking alternative locations for events previously scheduled at the Hyatt Regency.
We call on the Hyatt Regency Vancouver to publicly apologize to BCAAFC staff and to all Indigenous peoples for enabling racist behaviour of their staff. We call on the Hyatt Regency Vancouver to take action to amend policy, procedures and practices to address Indigenous-specific racism including providing mandatory anti-racism training for staff, as outlined by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
To be clear, BCAAFC is not seeking a financial compensation. Further, BCAAFC does not want the Hyatt to address this as merely one employee’s action. We seek to ensure all staff are trained to understand their biases against Indigenous peoples and enact measures to ensure systemic racism is addressed throughout the Hyatt organization.
BCAAFC is seeking additional volunteers for the March 22-25 Gathering Our Voices (GOV): Indigenous Youth Leadership Training event to assist in keeping Indigenous youth safe.
BCAAFC and the FNLC stand firmly with our relative and cultural leader who experienced profound harm and raise our hands to them for their courage and strength in coming forward in the pursuit of justice, to demand dignity and human rights for our future generations.
On behalf of the undersigned:
Leslie Varley, Executive Director, BCAAFC
Elijah Mack, President, BCAAFC
Carole Camille, Board Member, BCAAFC
Cal Albright, Board Member, BCAAFC
Rosanna McGregor, Board Member
Fabian Alexis, Board Member, BCAAFC
Tami Omeasoo, Board Member, BCAAFC
Cyndi Stephens, Board Member, BCAAFC
FIRST NATIONS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
On behalf of the FIRST NATIONS SUMMIT
Cheryl Casimer
Robert Phillips
Hugh Braker
On behalf of the UNION OF BC INDIAN CHIEFS
Grand Chief Steward Phillip
Chief Don Tom
Chief Marilyn Slett
On behalf of the BC ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS:
Regional Chief Terry Teegee
Media contact: communications@bcaafc.com
Apply to volunteer at GOV2023: gatheringourvoices.ca/volunteer/
February 1, 2023
The toxic illicit drug crisis impacts everyone, and disproportionately impacts Indigenous peoples and our urban communities.
While we support the urgent need for drug reform in this country, Health Canada’s new exemption for the Province of B.C. under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act does not go far enough to address the systemic causes of deaths related to the toxic drug crisis. The cumulative amount of illicit drugs that qualifies for decriminalization is drastically low relative to the amount required to end the criminalization of drug users, and is not substantiated by evidence as being effective in preventing substance use-related deaths in our communities.
BCAAFC was one of several member organizations of the Decriminalization Core Planning Table that contributed to the preparation of the BC Government’s s. 56(1) exemption request to Health Canada. The exemption request was guided by our commitment to addressing the unnecessary loss of lives due to the poisoned drug crisis which disproportionately impacts Indigenous peoples in B.C. and across Canada.
In November of 2021, members of the Province’s Core Planning Table released a statement regarding the province’s application to Health Canada – with concern that the cumulative amount of 4.5 grams was far too low to end criminalization of drug users. Health Canada then lowered the cumulative amount of illicit substances approved for decriminalization to 2.5 grams.
The 2.0 gram reduction by Health Canada is informed by the interest of police, not by peer-reviewed health research.[1] This reduction only further perpetuates the historical and contemporary forms of colonial violence exerted on Indigenous peoples.
In B.C., First Nations people died at five times the rate of the general rate of BC’s population. First Nation women die from the toxic illicit drug supply at a rate 8.8% higher than non-Indigenous women.[2]
The disproportionate number of Indigenous people ensnared by the criminal legal system also continues to impact Indigenous families and communities. Indigenous adults make up 5% of the population in Canada and 33% of admissions to federal custody in 2020/2021. The rate of incarceration of Indigenous women has increased; women now make up 50% of federally incarcerated women in Canada.[3]
Indigenous youth make up 8% of the Canadian youth population yet represented 50% of all youth admissions to custody in 2020/2021.[4] In B.C., Indigenous youth make up 56% of all youth held in Youth Custody Centres.[5]
The B.C. model for decriminalization does not meet the needs or truths of Indigenous drug users. The model for decriminalization must be informed by drug users and urban Indigenous communities in order to reduce the harms and deaths caused by the continued drug war.
We urge the provincial and federal governments to raise the cumulative amount of illicit drugs that qualifies for decriminalization, and to centre the voices of drugs users in the development of decriminalization policies to make meaningful change.
[1] Akshay Kulkarni, “What you need to know about the decriminalization of possessing illicit drugs in B.C.” CBC News (30 Jan 2023), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/what-you-need-to-know-drugs-british-columbia-1.6727814>; BC Association of Chiefs of Police, “Drug Decriminalization: An integrated approach to improve health and safety outcomes”
[2] Ibid, at 9; Brenna Owen, “First Nations women overrepresented among B.C. toxic drug deaths: doctor” CBC News (1 Feb 2023), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/2022-toxic-drug-deaths-indigenous-women-overrepresented-bc-1.6732966>.
[3] Canada, Office of the Correctional Investigator, Media Release, “Proportion of Indigenous Women in Federal Custody Nears 50%: Correctional Investigator Issues Statement” (Ottawa: OCI, 17 Dec 2021), online: <https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/comm/press/press20211217-eng.aspx>.
[4] Canada, Department of Justice, State of the Criminal Justice System Impact of COVID-19 on the Criminal Justice System, Cat #: J12-8E-PDF (Ottawa: DOJ, 2022), at 40, online: <https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/state-etat/2022rpt-rap2022/pdf/RSD-2022-SOCJS_Covid-19_Report-en.pdf>; Statistics Canada, “Adult and youth correctional statistics, 2020/2021” The Daily, Cat no. 11-001-X (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 20 Apr 2022), at 4, online: <https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/daily-quotidien/220420/dq220420c-eng.pdf?st=Lkxy2x7p>.
[5] British Columbia, Ministry of Children and Family Development, “Community Youth Justice Annual Average” (Victoria: MCFD, Mar 2022), online: <https://mcfd.gov.bc.ca/reporting/services/youth-justice/case-data-and-trends>.
December 2, 2022
The BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) and Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) stand in deep and full solidarity with the families of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Beatrice Harris, Marcedes Myran, and a fourth victim who has not yet been identified. We also stand firmly with Crane River First Nation, where Rebecca was a member, and Long Plain First Nation, where Morgan and Marcedes were members, who are grieving.
We extend our sincere condolences to the women’s families, and all of the families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, as well as the advocates and communities mourning in Winnipeg, Treaty No. 1 Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, and Homeland of the Métis Nation.
Their lives were allegedly taken by Jeremy Anthony Michael Skibicki, a resident of Winnipeg, MB and known member of the extremist far-right. A review of alleged murderer Skibicki’s social media presence indicates that he held violent, antisemitic, misogynistic, and white supremacist beliefs. The consistent and prolonged lack of attention by the federal and provincial governments to the ongoing violence against Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, as well as the rise of the far-right targeting marginalized communities, has resulted in horrifying consequences.
The announcement of these charges comes in the middle of the 16 Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence and as we approach December 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
We call on federal and provincial leaders to take urgent and meaningful action on the calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls which, on page 85, states, “one of the things that makes this National Inquiry unique is that we are not investigating a past wrong, but one that is still ongoing and that is getting worse. Acts of violence stemming from the structures of colonization and coupled with racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia are not few and far between, but pervasive, immediate, and urgent. However, this violence is also preventable—if Canadians are willing to change.”
The BCAAFC and BWSS have long advocated for culturally safe and inclusive anti-violence services for Indigenous women, Black women, immigrant/refugee women, women of colour, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Federal and provincial funding in these areas continues to inadequately address the disproportionate violence against Indigenous women, Black women, immigrant/refugee women, women of colour and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
We continue our work to end gender-based violence, in loving memory of these women, their families, and their communities, please join us.
Resources:
Women and gender diverse people experiencing gender-based violence, intimate partner, domestic or sexualized violence can receive support from BWSS by calling the 24/7 crisis line at: 604-687-1867, or toll free: 1-855-687-1868.
In solidarity,
Leslie Varley, Executive Director
BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director
Battered Women’s Support Services
October 17, 2022
Victoria, British Columbia – October 17, 2022 – The annual Gathering Our Voices (GOV) Indigenous Youth Leadership Training event has sold out! Tickets for the event sold out within 3 minutes of opening registration. Thank you to everyone who registered!
If you didn’t get a chance to register, there is still time to add your name to the waitlist. There will be a limited amount of tickets released in the coming weeks as we confirm participant attendance. Visit gatheringourvoices.ca/registration to add your name to the waitlist.
Gathering Our Voices will take place from March 22 to 25, 2023 on the traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations in the City of Vancouver. The venue for the event is the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and Hyatt Regency Vancouver. Visit gatheringourvoices.ca/registration/location for more information.
This is the first time since 2019 that the event is taking place. The annual event was cancelled in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is still time to sponsor! Gathering Our Voices is an event that receives nationwide attendance, and this is a major opportunity for your organization to invest in Indigenous youth. For more information on sponsorship, visit: gatheringourvoices.ca/sponsorship.
Follow the Gathering Our Voices team on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Also, add you name to the GOV newsletter for the latest updates.
BC Friendship Centres are Indigenous-led, social service organizations that provide culturally-relevant programs and services for Indigenous peoples living in urban areas and away from home. Indigenous youth are an integral part of the Friendship Centre Movement, preserving traditional knowledge and leading positive change with the vision for an equitable, vibrant society for all. GOV helps Indigenous youth access invaluable tools, resources, and partnerships to further their success.
For questions about Gathering Our Voices 2023, please contact: gatheringourvoices@bcaafc.com
For media and event sponsorship inquiries, please contact: communications@bcaafc.com
To learn more about Gathering Our Voices, please visit: gatheringourvoices.ca
The BCAAFC is proud to collaborate with our partners at UVic to co-develop a custom MBA in Indigenous Reconciliation to support safer access to community social services for Indigenous people.
UVic has demonstrated a commitment to providing culturally relevant education and training opportunities through our collaborative work on the 3C Challenge, an entrepreneurship program that provided 700 Indigenous youth across the province with training and mentorship to start their own small businesses from 2019 to 2021.
The custom designed MBA program will also build off the success of the BCAAFC Management Training Academy, delivered in partnership with the UVic Peter B. Gustavon School of Business from 2019 to 2020. The Academy covered topics requested by Friendship Centre staff to increase capacity in their Centres. The training content and format was highly regarded by the 20 Friendship Centre staff who graduated from the Academy, and all expressed a desire for future training opportunities.
The Friendship Centre Movement has over 60 years of experience delivering culturally safe social services for Indigenous people.
Feedback from BC Friendship Centre Membership and the Social Services Sector Roundtable has been clear:
The custom MBA program addresses these needs and is an important step towards safer access to community social services for Indigenous people.
Media:
British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) with Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS)
July 13, 2022 – Vancouver, B.C. – Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh) – The BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres and Battered Women’s Support Services, joined by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre, released a year-long research project: “The Road to Safety: Indigenous Survivors in BC Speak Out against Intimate Partner Violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
In partnership with the University of Victoria, these leading Indigenous and anti-violence organizations in B.C. undertook a research project involving surveys and first-hand interviews with Indigenous women and gender diverse people across the province to understand the experiences of intimate partner violence that Indigenous women and gender diverse people are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the key findings of “The Road to Safety” include:
According to Leslie Varley, Executive Director of BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, “Overall, our findings indicate systemic challenges of access to justice and safety for Indigenous women and gender diverse people. Indigenous women reported widespread racism; fear of child apprehension and police when reporting violence; lack of safe housing when fleeing violence; and inadequate anti-violence services. Most government funding to address violence against Indigenous women is not in the hands of Indigenous organizations. Indigenous communities must receive funding to establish and operate programs ourselves, such as Indigenous-run 24/7 crisis support for Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse people across B.C.”
States Summer Rain, BWSS’s Manager of Direct Services & Indigenous Women’s Program: “In 2022 alone, Tatyanna Harrison, Alysia Strongarm, Noelle ‘Elli’ O’Soup, Keara Joe, Carmelita Abraham, and Chelsea Poorman have all gone missing or died under suspicious circumstances in B.C.
Indigenous women and girls are being hunted down like prey because perpetrators know they can get away with sexist, colonial violence against us. Police and child services agencies perpetuate the violence, white Canadian men rip down posters of MMIWG, and there is glacial inaction by all levels of government to the Calls for Justice by the National MMIWG2S Inquiry. This is an urgent state of crisis, and we will continue to take action until the violence ends.”
Leslie Varley, BCAAFC Executive Director: 250-893-0494
Angela Marie MacDougall, BWSS Executive Director: 604-808-0507
Women and gender diverse people experiencing gender-based violence and intimate partner violence can receive support from BWSS by calling the 24/7 crisis line at: 604-687-1867, or toll free at: 1-855-687-1868. The crisis line can also be reached by text at: 604-652-1867.
Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WHISTLER – The Province is investing $8.4 million to advance reconciliation in the B.C. community social services sector.
“Non-profits promote connection and provide valuable community services across B.C., and they need to be available and accessible to all,” said Niki Sharma, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits. “Through this investment, we are increasing community social service providers’ capacity to offer culturally safe, inclusive, accessible social services to Indigenous people throughout British Columbia.”
The funding will support the development of a reconciliation framework for the community social services sector over five years.
Overseen by the British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC), the framework will include:
“The British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres is pleased to be working together with our Indigenous Safespace app colleagues, the social services sector and the University of Victoria to begin taking steps to collaboratively build capacity in our sector as we actively move toward reconciliation,” said Leslie Varley, executive director, BCAAFC. “To be clear, this is an Indigenous-led, multi-faceted approach, fully supported by our social services sector, academic allies and our Indigenous colleagues with the shared goal of culturally safe and inclusive services for Indigenous people.”
Systemic racism, discrimination and institutional barriers create persistent challenges to Indigenous people in accessing social services. Structural and systemic change is necessary to right the injustices of the past and present, end anti-Indigenous hate and discrimination, and help build a healthy economy and inclusive province.
The Province released the 89-point Declaration Act Action Plan on March 30, 2022. The action plan, which is a legislative requirement under the Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples Act, was developed in consultation and co-operation with Indigenous Peoples to ensure its actions were aligned with the priorities of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in B.C.
The reconciliation framework is tied to action 4.41 of the Declaration Act Action Plan: “Work with First Nations, Métis-chartered communities and urban Indigenous organizations, such as BCAAFC, to provide funding for self-determined, community-led programs for Indigenous Peoples to upgrade skills, obtain credentials, secure employment, and develop and support community economies.”
“We are committed to a future where Indigenous Peoples design, control and set the standards for services that support and facilitate their well-being. This investment supports an Indigenous-led, multi-faceted approach intended to uproot anti-Indigenous racism, remove barriers and support culturally safe and accessible community services for Indigenous Peoples.”
“The social services sector is not immune to the need to change and decolonize our work. This is an exciting step, led by Indigenous people and supported by allies in the sector, to take important steps to make social services in B.C. truly safe, inclusive and welcoming. Thank you to the Province for making this investment and to BCAAFC for their leadership.”
“We are honoured to be invited to co-create the MBA in Indigenous Reconciliation together with BCAAFC and the provincial government. We look forward to bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants to build a shared understanding and commitment to reconciliation. This unique program will equip leaders in social services, government and non- profits to meaningfully advance reconciliation in their organizations and across our broader society.”
“An Elder taught us that survivors have the deep desire to share their trauma, but individually and as a society we are rarely prepared to hear it. If we want truth to lead to real reconciliation, we need spaces built where sharing the truth and hearing the truth can be a safe experience for both storyteller and listener. Safepace Networks is proud to be part of a reconciliation strategy that protects truth tellers, educates decision makers and enables all of us to play our part in reconciliation.”
BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship: www.bcaafc.com
Safespace: https://safespace.healthcare/bcaafc
B.C. Social Services Sector Roundtable: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/about-the-bc- government/initiatives/social-services-sector-roundtable
Declaration Act and the Declaration Act Action Plan: https://declaration.gov.bc.ca/
Ricki-Lee Jewell
Communications Coordinator
British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
communications@bcaafc.com
778 966-8571
Vivian Thomas
Communications Director
Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction
778 974-5809
