Decolonization & Anti-Racism

UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan website: https://isp.ubc.ca 

UBC is the first North American university to commit to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This Declaration led to a human-rights approach to the creation and implementation of UBC's Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP).

The ISP is a University-wide response to three main areas:

1. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP):

• What is UNDRIP? (Indigenous Foundations)
• Bill 41 – 2019: Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act
• What does 'implementing UNDRIP' actually mean? (CBC)

2. National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, & Two Spirit Calls for Justice

• Also see the National Action Plan fro this inquiry's 231 Calls to Justice 
• Also see: Who's involved in the planning of the National Action Plan?
  • Core Action Working Group Statement on MMIWG2S

3. UBC Vancouver campus’ response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action

(UBC community celebrates launch of new Indigenous Strategic Plan, 2020)

UBC Okanagan: In 2019, UBC Okanagan pledged to support Indigenous students, culture and scholarship through a public declaration of five commitments in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. You can learn more about the signing of this declaration here. 

UBC Vancouver: In 2019 UBC President Santa Ono offered a Commitment to Move Forward and an Apology Plaque to Musqueam stating,

"Earlier this year, the UBC Board of Governors endorsed the vision and mission statements in the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan.The vision sees UBC as taking a lead, as a university, in implementation of Indigenous peoples’ human rights, as articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other international human rights law.The mission statement sets out “UBC’s engagement with Indigenous peoples and its commitment to reconciliation, as articulated and called for by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.” UBC as an institution, and I as its president, are committed to this vision and this mission statement. I am also committed to helping lead a shift at UBC to effectively respond to the TRC Calls to Action. As a part of this commitment, I am eager to see us move forward with a comprehensive relationship agreement between UBC and Musqueam."

The ISP was created in alignment with concepts of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as well as well as ownership, control, access, and protection (OCAP®).

FPIC is an internally protected human right that asserts: ‘all peoples have the right to self-determination’ and – linked to the right to self-determination – ‘all peoples have the right to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development’.

The First Nations Principles of OCAP® asserts that First Nations have control over data collection processes, own, and control how this information can be used. This is a widely referenced framework for First Nations governance over research, community knowledge, and data. Developed in 1988. 

The ISP originated as a 38-page draft Indigenous Strategic Plan; this draft was based off the 2009 Aboriginal Strategic Plan (for a comprehensive timeline and history). Please note an interactive timeline for the ISP is forthcoming once their site is launched, you can find a current timeline here.

Planning for the current ISP began June 2018 and officially released in 2020: