CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by OPUS: Open Uleth Scholarship - University of Lethbridge Research Repository University of Lethbridge Research Repository OPUS https://opus.uleth.ca Theses Arts and Science, Faculty of Dekruyf, Katherine A. 2017 "Citizens minus?" : urban Aboriginal self-determination and co-production in the City of Calgary Department of Native American Studies https://hdl.handle.net/10133/4965 Downloaded from OPUS, University of Lethbridge Research Repository “CITIZENS MINUS?:” URBAN ABORIGINAL SELF-DETERMINATION AND CO-PRODUCTION IN THE CITY OF CALGARY KATHERINE A. DEKRUYF Bachelor of Arts, University of Lethbridge, 2014 A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Lethbridge In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS Department of Native American Studies University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA © Katherine Dekruyf, 2017 “CITIZENS MINUS?:” URBAN ABORIGINAL SELF-DETERMINATION AND CO- PRODUCTION IN THE CITY OF CALGARY KATHERINE A. DEKRUYF Date of Defense: April 24, 2017 Dr. Yale Belanger Professor Ph.D. Thesis Supervisor Dr. Ryan Walker Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. Ivan Townshend Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. Harold Jansen Professor Ph.D. Chair, Thesis Examination Committee Abstract Urban Aboriginal communities continue to seek greater influence in municipal planning and policy-development processes. Co-production has been proposed as a viable means to develop appropriate policies in full, equal, and reciprocal partnership between urban Aboriginal communities and cities. This thesis explores how a lack of consensus over the meaning of urban Aboriginal self-determination influences co-production’s utility, and addresses how the related concepts of citizenship and the politics of recognition have led to co-production’s limited success. Twenty-eight interviews were conducted with municipal leadership, Aboriginal organizations, and Aboriginal residents in the City of Calgary. A case study of the July 2015 Paskapoo Slopes negotiations in Calgary and Mayor Nenshi’s Year of Reconciliation proclamation are then explored within this context. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my graduate committee for their guidance in the writing of this thesis. Special thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Yale Belanger, for believing in me and also for his unwavering support and encouragement during the difficult times. Also special thanks to Dr. Ryan Walker and Dr. Ivan Townshend for their patience and support, and also for their helpful and insightful comments throughout this project. Without the support of my committee this thesis would not be possible. I would like the thank the faculty of the Native Studies and Political Science departments at the University of Lethbridge for sharing their knowledge and inspiring me throughout my undergraduate and graduate journey. Thank you to my family for their love and support. Lastly I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the participants who lent their voices to this important research. This project was supported by a SSHRC research grant. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... iv Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review ........................................................................................................... 5 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 14 Fieldwork ................................................................................................................... 16 Transcription and Data Analysis ............................................................................ 18 Thesis Overview ............................................................................................................ 20 Chapter Two: The Setting, The People .......................................................................... 21 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 21 History of Indigenous People in the Calgary (Southern Alberta) Region............... 24 Establishing a Permanent Colonial Presence ............................................................ 26 Calgary’s Development and Aboriginal Urbanization ............................................. 28 Calgary: City Characteristics and Demographics ................................................. 28 Calgary Aboriginal Urbanization ........................................................................... 29 A Word on the Quality of Statistics ........................................................................ 31 Calgary Stampede ........................................................................................................ 31 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 37 Chapter Three: Urban Aboriginal Citizenship ............................................................. 39 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 39 Aboriginal Citizenship ................................................................................................. 40 Findings ......................................................................................................................... 47 Aboriginal Residents ................................................................................................ 47 Municipal Officials ................................................................................................... 56 Aboriginal Organizational Leadership ................................................................... 61 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 66 Chapter Four: The Politics of Recognition .................................................................... 71 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 71 Case Study Context: Paskapoo Slopes ....................................................................... 73 The Catalyst for Co-production: The Calgary Proclamation of Reconciliation .... 76 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 79 The Politics of Recognition ...................................................................................... 83 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 92 Chapter Five: Summary and Conclusion ...................................................................... 96 Moving Forward? ....................................................................................................... 106 References ....................................................................................................................... 110 Appendix A: City of Calgary: Year of Reconciliation Proclamation ........................ 120 v Chapter One: Introduction Introduction Urban Aboriginal community development in Canada has received significant scholarly attention in recent decades. Despite such thought-provoking discussions, many Indigenous people residing in urban centres continue to experience diminished quality of life standards than other residents, even if it tends to be “marginally better than it is for permanent residents of First Nations communities” (Dinsdale, White, & Hanselmann, 2011, p. xiii). Urban Aboriginal people still often struggle with various aspects of the urban experience, including securing employment, accessing various social programs and services, and attaining affordable housing (Newhouse & Peters, 2003). It is now accepted that one key reason for the increasing urbanization of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples during the past thirty years is the limited opportunities, poverty, and lack of housing on reserves (United Nations, 2007). Yet as other scholars have suggested, increased Aboriginal urbanization cannot solely be attributed to reserve migration (Guimond, 2003) as reserves themselves have had equally and at times more significant net population gains over the years (Norris & Clatworthy, 2011). Statistics Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey Aboriginal Population Profile indicated that 56% of Aboriginal people lived in cities, and most resided in one of five large metropolitan areas: Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto. Of these five cities, Calgary ranked fifth with 33,375 people identifying as Aboriginal (Statistics Canada, 2011a). These growing urban Aboriginal populations continue to suffer from a “lack of resources needed either to ease their transition or to promote their permanency” (Belanger, 2013, p. 70). A lack of federal resources that failed to respond to emerging urban Aboriginal