RECONCILIATION: MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER - SUPPORTING RECONCILIATION
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SUPPORTING RECONCILIATION Overview
“If I am the head of BC Housing and really truly interested in reconciliation, I would be interested in how I could jumpstart housing projects and then hand the baton entirely over to the First Nation communities to get people into housing, manage the housing, and get people into housing ownership. I would be asking how I could make myself irrelevant. We need to reduce the dependency on the current system, allow communities to manage their own people, and make community members self--determined. – Housing Provider Supporting reconciliation is the next step following understanding and transforming the organizational culture based on the principles of respect, trust, openness, and inclusion. It means pursuing meaningful action focused on building strong relationships with Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations and removing barriers to the achievement of Indigenous self-determination and self-government. For BC Housing to move toward supporting true reconciliation in the form of self-determination this means building a devolution plan and thinking about the vision and role of BC Housing moving forward. Preliminary Recommendations The following recommendations were drawn from the key findings and suggestions offered by Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations, as well as BC Housing staff and the Board. They are intended to identify ways that BC Housing can take action to support reconciliation. Table 10: Preliminary Recommendations for Supporting Reconciliation PHASE RECOMMENDED ACTIONS KEY STEPS Supporting Reconciliation Phase 1 Continue to offer the Indigenous Housing Fund,
Utilize the preliminary findings from the initial engagement on reconciliation to identify the main issues regarding the Indigenous Housing Fund. Follow-up with Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations to offer discussions on specific issues. Summarize this additional feedback and report out to Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations on actions taken or planned. Adopt flexible timelines in projects with Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations to allow for a ‘pause’ when local
and collaborate with Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations on the program’s requirements to ensure that it is flexible enough to meet their community’s needs.* Create increased flexibility in project timelines and housing program requirements and
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