The federal government has announced plans to convert the former U.S. embassy across from Parliament Hill into a space dedicated to Canada鈥檚 indigenous people.
But indigenous architects are calling the building at 100 Wellington St. in Ottawa a 鈥渉and-me-down鈥� and say it is 鈥渘ot a culturally appropriate space鈥� for an indigenous centre.
Speaking to a crowd of indigenous leaders and government officials outside the building on National Aboriginal Day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he hopes the converted space will serve as a 鈥減ermanent reminder that indigenous people are at the very heart of this great land.鈥�
鈥淭his is your space,鈥� he said Wednesday. 鈥淲e want you to decide how best to use it in order to serve your communities.鈥�
But in a statement issued a day before the announcement, the Indigenous Task Force of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) said it鈥檚 another example of indigenous communities being 鈥渇orced into leftover spaces that fail to connect in any meaningful way to their cultures.
鈥淚ndigenous people always get the hand-me-downs, the buildings, and land that settlers no longer have a use for,鈥� said the RAIC task force, comprised of about 30 mostly indigenous architects, architectural students, interns and academics.
The former U.S. embassy is prime real estate in Ottawa, located directly across the street from Parliament Hill. It was built in the 1930s, acquired from the U.S. government in 1997, and has remained vacant since 1998.
Trudeau said his government wanted a space dedicated to indigenous people to be in the centre of the country鈥檚 political institutions, so that millions of tourists and Canadians who visit the nation鈥檚 capital can be reminded of indigenous people鈥檚 key role in Canadian society.
鈥淣o relationship is more important to this government than that with the indigenous peoples,鈥� Trudeau said.
In Tuesday鈥檚 statement, the RAIC indigenous task force chair, architect Patrick Stewart of the Nisga鈥檃 Nation, said there wasn鈥檛 enough consultation before the government made the decision about the building.
The statement said the building鈥檚 classic revival architecture style is most identified with colonization, 鈥渆choing structures of European authority.鈥�
The task force said the government should consult with indigenous architects, elders and community members on how to reconfigure and repurpose the building and the land that surrounds it.
鈥淧erhaps the place to start would be for the federal government to provide capital dollars for the design and construction of a meaningful culturally appropriate structure based upon Indigenous knowledge through the use of Indigenous architects,鈥� Stewart said in the statement.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said he welcomes the government鈥檚 decision to make 100 Wellington St. a space for indigenous people.
鈥淭his is prime real estate鈥�.right across from the House of Commons,鈥� he told CTV鈥檚 Power Play on Wednesday.
鈥淪o the way I look at it is, those 338 members of Parliament that go into that big building are going to come out every day and look across the road, and (it鈥檚) going to be on their mind, their heart and in their spirit that that鈥檚 the Indigenous Peoples鈥� house.鈥�
Bellegarde said the building will remind parliamentarians that 鈥渢hey鈥檝e got to consider indigenous people in every decision they make.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to say no to this opportunity because it鈥檚 got so much potential,鈥� he added.
Trudeau also announced Wednesday that Langevin Block, the building that houses the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office, will be renamed.
The building was named after Hector-Louis Langevin, a politician and father of Confederation who had expressed strong support for establishing what would become the government-run residential school program. Indigenous leaders had been calling for the Langevin name to be removed from the building, which will now be simply referred to as Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council.
National Aboriginal Day will also be renamed National Indigenous Peoples Day, Trudeau said.
With files from The Canadian Press
