The Oki sign at Lethbridge City Hall. 'Oki' is Lethbridge's official Blackfoot greeting. (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Council votes to advance Lethbridge’s Indigenous Place-making Strategy

Jun 16, 2021 | 9:57 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge City Council has voted unanimously to advance the Indigenous Place-making Strategy a year ahead of schedule.

The strategy was previously approved by council as part of the 2022-2031 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). A minimum two-thirds vote was required to re-open the CIP. The strategy includes a review and audit of the public spaces, markers and languages used by the City of Lethbridge.

The city is responsible for the public spaces in the community, like city-owned parks, neighborhoods and facilities, certain historical markers, as well as the naming of public infrastructure and spaces.

The city cited the recent discovery of a mass grave holding the bodies of 215 Indigenous children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School a few weeks ago as one of the reasons for Tuesday’s unanimous vote.

Councillor Jeff Coffman, whi proposed the resolution, said, “residents are looking to their local governments for change.”

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“Undertaking an audit of our public spaces, done through the lenses of Truth and Reconciliation and Inclusion, would allow our community to have a conversation around place-making and possibly determine outcomes where public spaces can further define us as a community.”

In order to advance the Indigenous Place-making Strategy, council had to amend the June 1, 2021 Regular Meeting of Council decision on the Indigenous Place-making Strategy – Section D, page 17 of the 2022-2031 Capital Improvement Program. Full details can be seen here.

As part of the resolution, city council voted to revise the funding source for the strategy to Major Capital Projects Reserve from the Community Project Unfunded Section. Additionally, the City Manager is to include regular updates on the work of the strategy as part of city council’s Work Plan and present council with the findings of the public spaces audit and recommendations for further action, no later than February 28, 2022.

The city’s Indigenous Relations Advisor, Perry Stein said, “the public realm in Lethbridge currently lacks a reflection of Blackfoot and other Indigenous peoples’ culture.”

“This represents an opportunity to approach reconciliation from a different perspective and one that will reach new audiences and meaningfully contribute to the city’s social, economic and environmental fabric.”