48. Office of Indigenous Strategy (immediate term)
The Task Force calls upon our University to create an Office of Indigenous Strategy, which should:
- Be aligned with other high level administrators, appropriately staffed and with an adequate budget; the office should be holistic and inclusive for students, staff and faculty; and
- Have a mandate that includes: the ongoing monitoring of the progress in responding to the Task Force’s Calls to Action, facilitating cross-campus coordination and collaborations, and ensuring annual reporting to Senate.
The establishment of this Office should occur simultaneously with the University’s:
- Official endorsement of the TRC’s Calls to Action and University Canada’s Principles on Indigenous Education;
- Development of an Indigenous Education Fund earmarked for encouraging new collaborative initiatives committed to realizing the Task Force’s Calls to Action. This fund, administered by the Office of Indigenous Strategy,should be open to the entire McGill community and include support from external partners;
- Inclusion of Indigenous education as part of the academic mission statement; and
- Inclusion of Indigenous education as part of the University’s strategic plan.
Progress
- This Office has been created and is known as Indigenous Initiatives (OII) in the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), under the Associate Provost Celeste Pedri-Spade.
- The OII is expanding to include additional Director and full-time Communications and Administrative Assistant positions as of Fall 2022.
