New survey aims to strengthen relationship between city and Indigenous community

The city is looking for input from the public on how it might strengthen its relationship with Indigenous people in a new urban Indigenous strategy survey.

The survey, which is online until the end of June, will be used to help shape a report going to city council on what sorts of actions would help improve community relations.

"There's an opportunity here to work more together," said Shylo Elmayan, senior project manager for the city's urban Indigenous strategy.

The survey is open to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents.

It touches on a wide variety of topics, like:

• Providing training for healthcare professionals to increase understanding of indigenous healing practices.
• Increasing the number of Indigenous people working for the city.
• Partnering with the Indigenous community to address housing needs.
• Increasing supports for local Indigenous artists.

Participants are asked to rank items like these on a scale of one to five, so the organizers can get a sense of what sorts of issues the city should look at tackling first.

"This will help us identify actions that are most important to Indigenous residents and non-Indigenous residents," Elmayan said.

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done on a national scale. It's a long term process that needs patience and vigilance."

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