Manitoba Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman along with other Indigenous and non-indigenous leaders, Including the full city council and representatives of dozens of Winnipeg organizations attended the signing ceremony for Winnipeg's Indigenous Accord on June 20.
WINNIPEG, MB-Manitoba Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman along with other Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders, attended the signing ceremony for Winnipeg's Indigenous Accord on June 20.
Mayor Bowman, along with the full city council and representatives of dozens of Winnipeg organizations signed the accord during a two-and-a-half-hour ceremony at Oodena Circle at The Forks.
The accord states that those who sign the document must publish an annual report that gives evidence of the measures they're taking to further the cause of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. According to the mayor, the accord was inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 calls to action.
"Really, what we're doing here is we're compelling signatories to make sure they're stepping up to the greatest extent possible," said Bowman, who said the ceremony was important for Winnipeg both symbolically and tangibly. "I hope it's a historic day that really strengthens our city," he said.
The Manitoba Métis Federation declined to sign the accord. "As Government of the Métis in Manitoba, it would be inappropriate for the MMF to be a signatory to an accord that cannot address specifically our experience in the Residential School system by virtue of the simple fact that the Métis Nation was excluded from the scope of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission," MMF communications director Jonathan Hamel said in a statement.
Mayor Bowman stated that the door is still open for the MMF to sign the document as well as all other organizations that did not sign at the ceremony.
