High Ground 2023: Home

Room: Coronet

Several women have stepped away from their high profile roles in recent weeks: Jacinda Arden as Prime Minster of New Zealand, Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the Scottish National Party, and here in BC, former cabinet minister Melanie Mark. What challenges do women in politics face? How does intersectionality factor in—and how can people be better allies in light of intersectionality? This workshop is a place for women holding elected office to share stories, solutions, and solidarity.

Please note that registration is required to attend this workshop. Please select the Pre-Forum Session when registering or email averdeflor@columbiainstitute.eco to register. A donation of $10 is suggested to help cover light lunch.

Room: Forum

Room: Forum

With Ryan Charlie from the Sts’ailes Nation.

Room: Forum

Bob Penner from Stratcom will be joining us virtually to talk through our survey results and what they mean for local electeds.

Room: Forum

The opening plenary will explore the ongoing collaboration between the District of Hope and Chawathil Nation. Speakers will talk through the necessary relationship development as elected officials from the municipality and nation develop and expand collective agreements for emergency services, housing, economic development, and infrastructure.

Room: Forum

Youth are one of the demographics who are most affected by our cities’ greatest challenges, from climate change to inaffordability. While there’s a greater recognition that youth are not disengaged and do in fact want to engage on these issues, local governments and leaders still struggle to meaningfully engage youth in decision making. In this one hour session led by CityHive, participants will get to walk through practices and tools to engage youth and map out pathways for youth engagement in your community.

Room: Canada

It’s been seven years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its 94 Calls to Action. Settler governments, especially local governments, have an essential role in advancing these survivor-designed steps toward decolonization. Women Transforming Cities will share takeaways for local leaders from their recent report, “The TRC Calls to Action in BC Municipalities: Progress, Barriers, and Opportunities to Accelerate Implementation.” The second part of the workshop will provide opportunities for peer-to-peer learning. Participants will be invited to exchange lessons learned and avenues for TRC implementation from their own communities.

Room: Forum

This plenary will explore examples of civilian-led mental health crisis response teams in Victoria BC (Peer Assisted Care Team) and Portland OR (Portland Street Response), as well as the difference between these types of teams and teams in which police are embedded. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the planned expansion of the Peer Assisted Care Teams in BC and what they need to know to get programs like this started in their communities.

Room: Miama/Cheam

Room: Rainbow/Cascade

With an introduction from Kim Novak, President of UFCW 1518.

Meaningful Reconciliation – Vancity’s learnings and strategy development journey.

This session starts at 7:45pm.

A signature High Ground event, the Emerging Solutions plenaries aim to give key insights into an issue affecting communities across Canada, and the innovative steps that either have or can be taken to solve or manage the issues.

Presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.

This session will start at 8:15pm.

Room: Forum

Room: Canada

Hosted by the BC Teachers’ Federation.

Room: Forum

In this showcase, Seth will share a few climate emergency campaigns underway that will be of interest to municipal councils and school boards. Specifically, the campaigns to ban new buildings from tying into gas lines, the Just Transition Transfer, and the Youth Climate Corps.

Room: Canada

From some big upsets at the council level, through to coordinated efforts amongst anti-sogi candidates at the school board level, this session will explore some of the key learnings and share takeaways from the November 2022 local government elections in BC. We’ll look at how the election outcomes might impact progressive agendas locally across the province over the next 4 years and the lessons learned for next election.

Room: Coronet

This workshop explores the impact of cooperative enterprises in addressing the cascading challenges of economic inclusion, housing affordability, and climate change. Join Njeri Kontulahti from Vancity Credit Union and David Ng from VALU co-op as they discuss how co-ops address local needs, keep capital local, and reduce the barriers to access for needed goods and services.

Room: Forum

In this breakout workshop, we’ll explore what it means to be a school trustee today, covering a broad range of topics including the education sector, roles and responsibilities, opportunities and limits, legalities and K-12 stakeholders.

Room: Coronet

The online world is an extension of our homes and communities, and it is essential that we work together to address the challenges that come with it. This session will focus on online harms such as cyberbullying, hate speech, and misinformation, and their impact on our sense of safety and well-being at home. We will explore innovative approaches and collaborations between local governments, businesses, and community organizations to create a healthier online environment and promote positive digital citizenship.

Room: Forum

As senior levels of government fund the expansion of a $10/day childcare system, this session will explore how school boards can support the implementation and expansion of childcare including before and after school care provision.

Room: Canada

Social inequality continues to shape our cultures and cities, but it doesn’t have to. Becoming a more equitable municipality isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s essential to a city’s social and economic success. Hosted by YWCA City Shift, this workshop will provide an overview of our Equity Kickstart Guide for Cities. We will highlight key actions municipalities should consider as they work towards becoming more equitable and highlight case studies and promising practices from other Canadian cities.

Room: Forum

In this showcase, Tara/Naxginkw will share a brief primer on the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), how philanthropy can take a lead role in implementation, and then introduce the UNDRIP plenary.

Room: Forum

In 2022, the City of Vancouver, in partnership with the Squamish Nation, Musqueam Indian Band, and Tsleil-Waututh Nation, approved a UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) strategy to advance reconciliation and Indigenous rights. Join Christine Boyle, Councillor at the City of Vancouver, and Dennis Thomas “Whonoak”, Councillor at the Tsleil-Waututh Nation as they discuss the collaboration, implementation, and path ahead for the first-ever co-developed UNDRIP strategy between Indigenous communities and a local government.

Room: Forum

Presented by CityState, Alex Boston, Michelle Bonner, and Thom Armstrong discuss the role that municipalities play in facilitating affordable housing stock. With an emphasis on utilizing public assets and leveraging decarbonization as a tool to deepen affordability, not hinder it, all three panelists present proven solutions that can be applied in every municipality across B.C.

Room: Forum