Items

Back in March 29, 2023, City Council adopted an item called ‘Place Names in the Port Lands’. “City staff have been working with an Indigenous engagement consultant and Elder to design the engagement process”. This includes a place naming advisory circle, which will recommend an Indigenous name for the Island and proposed names for streets and parks to be considered by City Council in fall 2024. The item also emphasizes future opportunities for the City to "collaborate with Indigenous communities" and integrate "Indigenous knowledge systems, oral histories, protocols, and connections to the land" into the waterfront revitalization process.

“Since colonization, Indigenous People have experienced many traumas, including displacement from their land, erasure of language and culture, residential schools, and systemic racism at every level of government and institution. The impacts of these traumas are present today, and are evidenced in the higher rates of houselessness, violence, suicide and poverty. Despite this, Indigenous People have shown incredible resilience and strength… The Reconciliation Action Plan is a living document and will continue to grow and evolve as needed in order to respond to changing needs of Indigenous communities in Toronto.”

“The planned 22,000 sq. ft. Indigenous Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship facility will be situated in a commercial space located at 200 Dundas Street East. The first of its kind in Ontario, when it opens in 2023 the Indigenous Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will become one of only a handful of incubators in Canada dedicated to Indigenous economic empowerment and business development. As such, the Indigenous Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship presents a significant opportunity to support and connect First Nations, Inuit and Métis entrepreneurs across Toronto, Ontario and Canada to critical resources and each other.”

“The HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan established a target of approving 40,000 new affordable rental homes, including 18,000 supportive homes by 2030. In October 2020, City Council approved an allocation of 5,200 of these new homes for Indigenous Peoples to be directly delivered by Indigenous housing providers and supported by the City and other orders of government.”

“Toronto is the most diverse City in the world and home to approximately 70,000 Indigenous persons, making it one of the largest Indigenous urban populations in Canada. Indigenous people’s history can be traced back thousands of years, yet, unlike neighbourhoods such as Chinatown or Little Italy established by newer immigrants and recent Business Improvement Area organizing, there is no formally recognized Indigenous business and cultural area in the City, despite Toronto being a City historically created on treaty and Indigenous land…[I]n 2013, the ward Councillor worked with City Planning to identify a new development at 200 Dundas Street East as a potential location for the Indigenous business centre and incubator.”