Transformative Planning Practice and Urban Indigenous Governance in Vancouver, British Columbia by Lily Canan Reynolds B.A. (Geography), University of British Columbia, 2010 Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Urban Studies in the Urban Studies Program Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences © Lily Canan Reynolds 2015 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2015 Approval Name: Lily Canan Reynolds Degree: Master of Urban Studies Title: Transformative Planning Practice and Urban Indigenous Governance in Vancouver, British Columbia Examining Committee: Chair: Meg Holden Associate Professor Urban Studies and Geography Karen Ferguson Senior Supervisor Professor Urban Studies and History Patrick J. Smith Supervisor Professor Urban Studies and Political Science Kamala Todd External Supervisor Aboriginal Community Planner Date Defended/Approved: December 17, 2015 ii Ethics Statement iii Abstract A majority of legislation, policies and research about Indigenous rights in Canada has taken place at the federal and provincial levels. However, there is very little understanding about Indigenous rights in urban contexts. Nevertheless, over half of Indigenous people in Canada live in cities, making it necessary to gain a better understanding of how municipal governance can recognize Indigenous rights. Urban and regional planning is central to addressing Indigenous rights in cities because of the profession’s significant role in land acquisition and ability to influence social, cultural and political control. But because planning has been instrumental to the dispossession of Indigenous peoples, it raises the question of whether the same professional tools could or should be used in an effort to undo the oppression and neglect of Indigenous peoples. This thesis aims to understand what specific transformative planning practices are potential approaches for improved urban Indigenous governance. This study investigates the practices of non-Indigenous planning professionals that urban Indigenous non-profit organizations in Vancouver have identified as being effective in furthering their organizations’ goals. I seek to answer two questions. First, what are the planning practices of these non-Indigenous planners that make them effective according to the Indigenous people they work with? Second, how do these practices connect to designing urban Indigenous governance with the purpose of incorporating and expressing Indigenous rights in cities? By exploring these questions this thesis hopes to uncover what future planning efforts are called for to expand Indigenous rights in the city. Keywords: Indigenous governance; planning practice; Indigenous rights; Aboriginal; transformative planning; urban governance iv Dedication To my parents. v Acknowledgements With deep gratitude, I acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples who have always acted as caretakers of the lands and resources of what is now known as Vancouver. The guidance of many teachers is the foundation of this research project. Most importantly, Karen Ferguson, whose high expectations helped me succeed in this endeavour. Kamala Todd, Paddy Smith, Nathan Edelson, Meg Holden, Janey Lew, Matt Hern, and Peter Hall provided diverse critical lenses through which to view the city. Thank you to Terri Evans for help with administrative matters. Sara Ortiz Escalante and Corey Payette supported me to focus my thinking in both content and meaning. I acknowledge and thank all of the interviewees who generously participated in this project. My warmest appreciation extends to my spouse César de la Fuente Núñez, for his unwavering support, academic curiosity and kind heart. Finally, thank you to my parents, Penelope Canan and Reid Reynolds, two people deeply committed to social justice. Because of them I found my voice as a social scientist and learned that my mind should always remain in the pursuit of understanding inequality. vi Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................. ii Ethics Statement ............................................................................................................... iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iv Dedication .......................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2. Literature Review ....................................................................................... 8 2.1. Municipal colonialism in Vancouver ....................................................................... 10 2.2. Defining urban Indigenous governance ................................................................. 16 2.3. Defining transformative planning practice .............................................................. 23 Chapter 3. Research Design & Methodology ........................................................... 32 3.1 Sampling & Analysis Methods ............................................................................... 32 3.2 Profile of Group A Interviewees ............................................................................. 35 3.1. Profile of Group B Interviewees ............................................................................. 37 Chapter 4. Group A Findings: Perspectives of urban Indigenous organizations .......................................................................................... 40 4.1. “Filling the Gaps”: Urban Indigenous non-profit organizations in Vancouver ......... 41 4.2. Urban Indigenous governance ............................................................................... 46 4.3. Working with non-Indigenous planners: Acting on self-determination is key ......... 50 Chapter 5. Group B Findings: Transformative Planning Practices ....................... 56 5.1. Self-Determination as Transformative Planning Practice ...................................... 57 5.2. Cultural Learning as Transformative Planning Practice ......................................... 65 5.3. Connecting to Resources as Transformative Planning Practice ............................ 70 Chapter 6. Findings: Transformative planning practice and urban Indigenous governance ......................................................................... 74 6.1. Balancing advocacy and support ........................................................................... 75 6.2. Challenges to urban Indigenous governance ........................................................ 79 vii Chapter 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 86 References .................................................................................................................. 91 viii List of Figures Figure 1. “First Nations In ‘Vancouver’ in the 1850’s” (Macdonald, 1992). ............ 11 ix Chapter 1. Introduction A majority of legislation, policies and research about Indigenous rights in Canada has taken place at the federal and provincial levels. However, there is very little understanding about Indigenous rights in urban contexts. Nevertheless, over half of Indigenous people in Canada live in cities, making it necessary to gain a better understanding of how municipal governance can recognize Indigenous rights. Recently, scholars have looked to questions of Indigenous rights at the local level regarding collaborative governance (Sandercock, 2015), coexistence with non-Indigenous communities (Porter, 2013), and in civic policy- making (Walker & Belanger, 2013). Urban Indigenous governance1 is a term used by some scholars to describe greater recognition of Indigenous rights in municipal governance (Tomiak, 2009; Graham, 1999). For several reasons, the implementation of urban Indigenous governance has proven complicated and contested. Unlike First Nations on reserve, urban Indigenous communities are multi-national and do not share a common hereditary land base. Federal and provincial governments have tended to view urban Indigenous issues as the jurisdiction of municipal governments, which have, in turn, retreated from Indigenous issues because of legislative precedent 1 Graham uses the term “urban Aboriginal governance” and Tomiak uses both “urban Indigenous governance” and “urban Aboriginal governance”. For the purpose of this thesis, I use the term “urban Indigenous governance” because Indigenous is more inclusive, while Aboriginal is a term used by the Canadian government to mean First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people, but it is exclusive of Indigenous people who do not fit these categories. 1 set at the federal level2. In contemporary Canadian cities, Indigenous people are rendered ‘ordinary citizens’, meaning without Indigenous rights. However, Indigenous people do not abandon their inherent rights because they live in cities3. In the context of Indigenous rights in Vancouver, it is