SIIA remains committed to engaging with and working in collaboration with our Lekwungen communities.
From Fall 2022- Summer 2023, SIIA engaged in extensive community engagement with the Lekwungen communities. This engagement took many forms, including of craft nights, shared meals, and meaningful conversations with community members. We used the insights gained through this engagement to inform our initial Draft Legislation, including our Guiding Principles.
In early June 2024, we hosted our first “Phase Two” engagement session with Songhees and Esquimalt, where we shared an update on SIIA’s history, purpose, and work. At the end of June 2024, we hosted a second engagement session with Songhees and Esquimalt, where we shared our draft law with community members. At both of these sessions, we received questions and feedback from community members that helped us identify the strengths in our draft law, as well as the areas that required revisions. The SIIA team is grateful for all the meaningful feedback we received at these sessions, and we have since revised our draft law in accordance with community feedback to ensure the voices and values of community members are adequately captured.
SIIA is preparing to host a third engagement session with Songhees and Esquimalt in late summer 2024, where we will introduce a “mock scenario” for community members work through. This session will provide community members an opportunity to see our law how our law is applied. We look forward to hosting this session and engaging in further meaningful discussions and consultation with community members. We welcome further input and feedback from the Lekwungen communities as we work towards finalizing our draft law, so that the voices and perspectives of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations are represented and upheld by this law.
