UBC did not consult with any Indigenous persons during the drafting of this year’s budget, despite a commitment by the university administration.
At the most recent Board of Governors meeting, President Santa Ono said that he is committed to working with Indigenous peoples during the drafting of the university’s budget. But, days before the meeting, Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot, a professor and senior advisor on Indigenous Affairs to the President, tweeted that this did not happen this year.
UBC's Finance Committee approved the budget, which includes significant investments in the Indigenous Strategic Plan, all prepared and presented without Indigenous voice or presence at the decision-making table. This should be the last UBC budget that does its business this way. https://t.co/0qU4xGV1DR
— Sheryl Lightfoot (@sheryllightfoot) April 15, 2021
Lightfoot, who was instrumental in developing and implementing the Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP), said that what happened was a mystery to her.
“I’m trying to find out myself what happened,” Lightfoot said in an interview.
The ISP is the first university plan across North America that places the UN Declaration of Human Rights at its foundation and aims to implement it in a post-secondary institution space. Lightfoot said the declaration was overlooked while drafting this year’s budget despite several presentations.
“We went to the board 10 times with the Indigenous strategic plan,” she said. “Guiding principles of consultation, cooperation, mutual respect, reciprocity, indigenous people at the decision-making tables really should be well-known and understood by the time we got to September 2020.”
According to Lightfoot, several bodies like the External President’s Advisory Committee and the Indigenous Engagement Committee were not contacted with budget allocations.
She expressed her grave disappointment towards all the missed opportunities, but said that Ono seemed unaware of the situation.
“He seemed quite horrified by the revelation of what had actually happened,” Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot believes the colonial framework with which UBC is structured could be the possible reason behind this exclusion.
“Like most Eurocentric institutions … the idea that one should do Indigenous consultation was never considered,” she said.
“To me, there is nothing more deeply colonial than a decision-maker saying, ‘Look at the package we have already prepared for you without your input.’”
The university's ISP committee plans to advocate this issue further by raising awareness, internal education and professional development with decision-makers, according to Lightfoot.
Lightfoot said that Ono has been informed about the ISP committee’s plans and is fully on board with the new committees formed.
Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs at UBC Media Relations, said in a statement to The Ubyssey that “building an inclusive campus is a top priority for UBC.”
“At UBC Vancouver, the usual consultations took the form of update sessions with groups required by the University Act, as well as specific groups experiencing individual cost pressures, due to the limited funding available,” he wrote.
“For the 2021/22 budget, most investments in Indigenous priorities are continuations, and in some cases expansions of multi-year commitments that were approved in previous years — items that all benefitted from extensive consultation in previous cycles.”
At UBC Okanagan, there is an ongoing consultation process that identifies annual priorities in support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada commitments and the Indigenous Strategic Plan, Ramsey wrote.
Ramsey acknowledges that the university can always do better and will be seeking guidance from UBC’s Indigenous Engagement Committee to work with Indigenous communities across both campuses.
“We remain committed to ensuring that our Indigenous community members and all historically marginalized communities are appropriately consulted and that their feedback is incorporated on future spending priorities.”