Item - 2021.RM34.1

CALL TO ORDER: 9:37 a.m.

Speaker Nunziata took the Chair and called the Members to order.

The meeting opened with O Canada.

June 8, 2021

Members of Council observed a moment of silence and remembered:

Giuseppina Vespoli De Luca

John 'Jack' Foster

Sharon Pollock

Douglas George Pudsey

Hafizur Rahman

Liane Regendanz

James 'Cam' Campbell Woodburne

Speaker Nunziata acknowledged that City Council was meeting on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.  Speaker Nunziata also acknowledged that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Speaker Nunziata called upon Mayor John Tory.

Mayor Tory's Address to City Council

I wanted to start this morning reflecting on the residential schools tragedy.

It was a week and a half ago when our country was horrified to learn that the bodies of 215 children were found in an unmarked grave at a former residential  school in Kamloops in N Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc First Nation Territory.

I believe it is important for our City Council - the very Council that governs the most diverse City in the world, a City with the fourth largest Indigenous population in Canada – to acknowledge this horrific discovery.

We have a duty as Elected Officials, who are privileged enough to be on this land and have a voice - we do indeed have a profoundly important duty - to share this story and to acknowledge this history.

The discovery is jarring and sickening.

It depicts a story that is often not talked about yet forms such a hugely significant chapter in our history.

Many do not get the opportunity to see how it has unfolded in real life. I have been fortunate enough to do so when I visited the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (Ki) and Bearskin Lake First Nations communities back in 2016.

Both are located about 1,800 km northwest of Toronto and only accessible by air.

I wanted to share a part of experience with all of you in hopes that it will bring to light the resiliency and courage of our Indigenous community and the work that remains towards truth and reconciliation.

Among many lessons one stood out to me that is relevant to what came out of Kamloops.

On my trip I met an elderly woman who shared her experience at a residential school - this is a story that sits with me to this day.

Dora had been taken away from her family at age 4 to a faraway school where she was forbidden to speak her Indigenous language.

It was at these very same schools children who died were buried - many never came home.

Dora told me of the experience of being forbidden to speak her own Indigenous language to the point where when she came home she could no longer speak with her own grandparents,

Dora is not alone.

We must face this reality.

Thousands of children were forcibly taken from their families and community.  They were stripped of their culture, language and even their names.

There are people alive today who can share their experience of being at residential schools.

This wasn't something that happened hundreds of years ago, it was still happening within the lifetime of virtually everyone on this Council.

And people who walk the same streets as us and call this City home are alive to tell that story.

All of this has had a lasting negative impact on many of our residents and realizing that, recognizing that, speaking up makes it easier for us to understand the pain this has caused and the role we all play in bringing this to light.

That is why reconciliation is so important for our country.

We need to learn the history of this country and the impact that history had on many different Canadians so that we can address those impacts, nowhere more importantly than with our Indigenous community.

We all have a role to play in that.

We must continue to show our support for the reconciliation process and for Indigenous communities across Toronto.

Words can only do so much, as I convey my condolence to all Indigenous children who didn't come home, the survivors and their families.

I want the members of those communities to know, as Mayor, I am in your corner and I am an ally.

I want to reaffirm the City of Toronto's commitment to Indigenous peoples, and acknowledge our ongoing work towards advancing truth, justice and reconciliation across the Toronto public service and in our City at large.

There is still more work to do, but in this time of grief, please know that I remain committed to ensuring indigenous voices remain front and centre as we move forward with our work to redress the systemic injustices faced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

I have been meeting almost every month with our Indigenous stakeholders and partners, and our Indigenous Affairs Office, in order to try to ensure that we are doing our part.

I will continue to do that. 

This discovery is not only difficult for us to accept as we face the true and complete history of our country but more importantly this is difficult for survivors of the residential school system, the trauma they endured and for the families who lost children.

Imagine having a child forcibly taken from your home, stripped of language, culture and dignity, basically stripped of your identity.

Imagine being one of those children.

I extend my condolences to the Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc Nation and all the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

I have also extended condolence to Chief Laforme of the Mississaugas of the Credit.

And I have had discussions with him as recently as last Friday to identify ways in which we can better achieve reconciliation.

In memory of the 215 children who remains were found, the City of Toronto lowered its flags starting on May 30 to half-mast for 215 hours - nine days - one hour to represent each child whose life was lost.

Our flags were also lowered in memory of the thousands of children who were sent to residential and day schools, those who never returned home and to mourn with the families whose lives were irreparably changed including those in subsequent generations.

To further commemorate these young lives, the Toronto sign was dimmed on the evening of Sunday, May 30, and then lit orange over the past many days.

Orange represents the losses suffered by residential school children, the survivors, their families and communities.

These are some of the small gestures we are making but it is not enough.

We know that we need to continue to search for more truth and more justice.

And the reminder of the gravity and importance of  reconciliation.

This is far from over.

We cannot be complacent because it is not something of the past.

It's the present and we must take action.

Thank you.

Mayor Tory invited Chief Stacey Laforme of the Mississaugas of the Credit to address City Council.

Chief Laforme thanked the Mayor, the Councillors and the people of Toronto for inviting him and said a prayer for the City Council meeting. Chief Laforme spoke of the victims and thanked the City of Toronto for lowering its flags to pay respect and support for the children, the families, the Indigenous people and the non Indigenous people who grieve.  Chief Laforme remarked that the news of finding bodies of 215 children has caused a lot of pain but sadly that there is a lot more to come as more children are discovered still within the confines of the ground upon which the residential schools sit.  Chief Laforme said that this is an awakening, a called responsibility not only for those involved but for all of us and a call to action.  Chief Laforme noted that we need to recognize that these children are all our children and that there are no more excuses to be made or accepted.  Chief Laforme remarked that is a moment in the life of this country that will determine where we go in the future. Chief Laforme spoke of the path before us and that it's a time to choose which direction we wish to take; let us choose to go forward together, let us choose a path of understanding, peace and friendship.  Chief Laforme remarked that we should let this moment of sorrow be a light that guides us to a better path.  Chief Laforme concluded his remarks by reciting his poem "Reconciliation."

Mayor Tory called on Members and everyone else who has joined us virtually and is watching to join in a moment of silence to mark this time of grief and to recognize the ongoing need for truth and reconciliation.

Member of Council observed 2 minutes and 15 seconds of silence in memory of the 215 children of the residential school in Kamloops.

Speaker Nunziata advised Council of the following:

For the benefit of those who are connected to the internet, the City Clerk has posted all of the agenda materials for today's meeting at toronto.ca/council.

Members, although Civic Buildings, including City Hall are currently closed to the public, I want to emphasize that today's Council meeting is being conducted publicly and is being streamed live on YouTube.  I want to welcome the public who are watching our meeting this morning.

June 9, 2021

Members of Council observed a moment of silence and remembered:

The victims of the London attack

Pegi Dover

Douglas George Pudsey

Guiseppe Simonetta.