By the narrowest of margins, Grey Highlands council has approved starting the process to create an Indigenous land acknowledgement for the municipality.
At its meeting on July 22, council approved a resolution brought forward by Coun. Nadia Dubyk that directed staff to consult with local Indigenous community groups to develop a formal land acknowledgement to be read at meetings and events.
The resolution turned out to be a controversial topic that generated a 30-minute discussion and was barely approved in a 4-3 vote with Dubyk, Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen and Councillors Joel Loughead and Tom Allwood in favour. Mayor Paul McQueen and Councillors Paul Allen and Dan Wickens voted against.
Land acknowledgements are a formal statement usually read before the start of a council meeting to recognize the traditional stewardship local Indigenous people had over the lands making up a municipality. They often mention local First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples and historic treaties.
Land acknowledgements have been adopted by municipalities across the country as a step towards truth and reconciliation.
Prior to Dubyk’s resolution, Grey Highlands council had not considered developing a land acknowledgement for its meetings. After Dubyk read her resolution, members of council expressed a broad range of opinions on how to proceed.
Wickens questioned the sincerity of such statements.
“What I’m about to say, I don’t take lightly,” said Wickens. “To me, it’s just lip service, being politically correct.”
Dubyk, Nielsen and Loughead all said the land acknowledgements are meaningful and important.
“It should be done with sincerity,” said Nielsen.
Dubyk called the idea “an initial step in a longer journey.”
“It’s a step forward so we can open up the door for conversation,” she said. “It’s a first step towards positive action. Unless we actually take that first step, I’m at a loss about how we move forward.”
Loughead said he had been “mulling” a similar resolution himself.
“It’s a good first step to a very complex issue,” he said. “Grey Highlands is a place geographically that did have other people living here before colonization.”
Allen said he had done some research on the topic of land acknowledgements and had concerns about it becoming “routine and strictly performative.”
“People tune out,” said Allen. “I don’t think I can support having it as a routine.”
McQueen acknowledged the long history on the topic and wondered if council should be thinking bigger than a land acknowledgement. The mayor suggested it might be better for the municipality to investigate creating an Indigenous memorial at the museum or embedding an Indigenous acknowledgement in all of its important documents such as the official plan and zoning bylaw.
“It’s something more substantial,” he said.
By Chris Fell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Jul 22, 2026 at 16:00
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