SUILC Report

SUILC Statement of Community Engagement

This statement is intended to guide public policy professionals/consultants and decision-makers when they are designing engagement processes for the purposes of community-based research, or informing policy and strategy, or making decisions that will impact urban Indigenous people as a community of interest.

For the purposes of this statement, “engagement” does not include formal processes related to the Crown’s duty to consult with Aboriginal governments or to accommodate the infringement of Aboriginal title or rights. As a collective group, urban Indigenous people living in Surrey do not have Surrey-based Aboriginal rights or title. Urban Indigenous people, therefore, cannot speak for First Nation governments with Aboriginal title or rights. Anything related to the Crown’s duty to consult must be directed to the appropriate land-based First Nation governments.

SUILC will not mediate a relationship with First Nation governments for the purposes of facilitating consultation or accommodation with those First Nation governments.

Finally, this Statement on Community Engagement is a living document and SUILC will update or amend this document as it learns about and responds to the needs and interests of the urban Indigenous community in Surrey.

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All Our Relations: Honouring the Host Nations

Surrey Urban Indigenous Leadership Committee's work takes place on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the Katize, Kwantlen, and Semiahmoo First Nations. We recognize their connection to this land and acknowledge that we are newcomers to Surrey like everyone else. Our group, the Surrey Urban Indigenous Leadership Committee does not represent these land-based First Nations and we are careful not to speak on their behalf. Instead, we represent urban Indigenous people that have moved here from all over BC and Canada to make Surrey their home. Our focus is making Surrey a great place for Indigenous people living in the city — regardless of where they come from, their legal status, or their particular culture heritage. As we do this, we endeavour to live in a good way with the land-based First Nations that have called this land their home since time immemorial.