Approve Commemoration Framework

Statement Watch

Hi. Today I'll be providing a brief overview of the proposed commemoration framework. Next slide, please. The commemoration framework is intended to guide the receipt and approval of commemoration requests made to the City of Vancouver for the limited public spaces and assets that are owned and controlled by the City. The proposed framework does not apply to the park board or public library. However, staff from both have been engaged in the process to develop the framework and are committed to collaborate on joint requests. Commemorations take many forms, including the commemoration of community, people, places, events and ideas. And the framework proposed encourages the prioritisation of commemorations that are meaningful and significantly relevant locally. It also establishes key roles and accountabilities for intake, review and decision making. To frame this, commemoration is an act of knowledge, acknowledging the memory of communities, people, places, events, and ideas, through many forms, including proclamations, monuments, public arts, plaques, street names, and places of remembrance. Currently, there is no policy to guide commemoration for the City of Vancouver-owned and managed land and assets, so historically, public requests have been handled on an ad hoc basis. the exception being flag protocols and illuminations which fall under the civic protocol policy. The lack of a single guiding document has caused issues with inconsistent processing of commemoration applications, which can be frustrating to the public and perceived as inequitable. Additionally, there is limited city-owned and operated public space available for commemorations, which requires being selective and judicious when assessing applications and committing public assets. As stated, the proposed framework is centred on assets that are owned and under the full control of the city. The types of commemorations which are defined as in scope are new and honorary commemorations for streets, laneways, buildings and plazas, developing and acquiring or deaccessioning commemorative civic monuments, public art and plaques, and commemorative protocols including official celebrations and observances which are also guided by the civic protocol policy. Commemorations which will be managed outside of the framework are local indigenous naming, which would be guided through a separate indigenous naming process through the indigenous relations team. Temporary and community activations, including roadside memorials and memorial murals, as these tend to be spontaneous community activations rather than following a formal request process. And also land and assets not wholly controlled by the city, including leases, which are also out of scope. We're proposing five assessment criteria to guide the application assessment and decision-making process.

The only criteria that is required for all applications is that the commemoration be locally relevant and grounded in Vancouver. After this, not all criteria need to be met for an application to proceed. However, together they intended to guide the decision-making process. These criteria reflect local nation consultation, public engagement, best practice findings, and the premise that public space and assets are limited. Staff recognize that historically commemorations have largely reflected a particular histories and perspectives, and the assessment criteria grounded to encourage a broader reflection of the diversity of Anki's people and experiences. I'm just going to take a moment just to walk through the five criteria. The first criteria is a requirement for all applications to be locally relevant and grounded and connected to Vancouver. This is to encourage the prioritisation of the diverse local community and history on limited city assets. While the framework places emphasis on local history and incidents as a priority, this does not diminish the significance and impact of devastating events that have happened and continue to happen in countries across the world. The second is to hold broad community interest and support, and this is speaking to prioritising significant events, groups and individuals where there is a broader connection and meaning to the wider local community. This is not to minimise the importance and impact of individuals, but to recognise again the limited public space and the need to be intentional about what gets commemorated. Next is the commitment to advance the city's under it priorities and recognize the diversity of Vancouver's residents, which captures the intention to recognize traditional knowledge, stories, and those who have been historically underrepresented in the fabric of our community. Staff also recommend there is a minimum of a two-year pause for consideration of applications following a person passing or an event. This is commonplace with other municipalities and provides some breathing space for those impacted. And finally, applications will be assessed against their operational feasibility from a city perspective. So through the staff review process and the recommendations to council, we will consider the feasibility of the location, the potential future uses of that asset or space, and whether there is a whole life funding plan in place. The framework outlines the process and accountabilities from intake through to staff review and either staff or council decision subject to council approved staff delegated authorities. The process for each application would be dependent on the scale, nature and complexity and the proposed location. The intention is the process is centrally coordinated and standardised where feasible. And as part of the staff review, the lead department will engage with the applicant for information and clarifications. The lead department is the team that operates or is responsible for the asset where the commemoration is being proposed. So the report for you recommends that general manager of the lead department be granted delegated authority to approve fully funded time-limited plaques where there is strong alignment to the relevant assessment criteria.

Staff would also have the authority to decline applications where the assessment criteria are not adequately met and would encourage the applicant to seek locations on private land. All other approvals would require council direction, which is consistent with other jurisdictions where typically council make decisions on all commemoration requests. Where feasible, staff recommend utilising existing council processes to seek council direction. An example would be that street naming would be managed as part of the wider area plan development and redevelopment processes led by the planning department in collaboration with the asset owner, which would likely be engineering. Outside of these existing processes, staff would prepare a six-monthly Omnibus Commemoration Council report to provide an update on applications and seek council direction as needed. Okay, subject to Council's direction today, staff would begin to implement the framework by developing public-facing online guidelines and resources. In addition, we would review current on-hold applications to assess and progress towards a decision. The framework is recommended to be reviewed in a four-year cycle with the opportunity to be reaffirmed or amended by Council. And to wrap up, the staff recommendation for you today is for council to approve the commemoration framework and direct staff to implement internal guidelines and public-facing resources to implement the framework by the end of the year. Staff also recommend that council delegates authority to city staff to decline applications where assessment criteria are not adequately met. And that the general manager responsible for the city asset or space to be used for the commemoration has delegated authority to approve fully funded temporary plaques for up to 10 years where there is a strong alignment to the assessment criteria.