11/25/2025
Montreal’s new mayor has removed Indigenous reconciliation from the roles assigned to the city’s executive committee, prompting strong criticism from Indigenous and human-rights leaders.
Although the city had first appointed a member responsible for reconciliation in 2018, it is not among the roles announced by Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada last week.
“It’s really disheartening,” said Nakuset, the executive director of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal. “It seems like we’re completely forgotten and obsolete.”
The city’s executive committee is a decision-making body similar to a prime minister or premier’s cabinet. It brings together 14 members, including Martinez Ferrada, and seven associate councillors.
Each of its members are assigned files they will be responsible for — mobility, nightlife and security, for instance — and they become the city’s point person on the issues.
When the city first appointed a councillor responsible for the file seven years ago, then-mayor Valérie Plante had explained it as an effort to build bridges and ensure reconciliation remains a top priority for the city.
Although the new roles given to members and associate councillors last week include dozens of files reflecting the city’s priorities , with most members handling more than one, reconciliation is absent.
Asked about the change during a news conference at city hall, Martinez Ferrada said she has made it clear to everyone on the executive committee that reconciliation is important to her.
“I come from the federal government, from a government that actually launched a process of reconciliation,” said Martinez Ferrada, who served in the Trudeau government until running for mayor.
“It’s a very big concern of mine,” she added.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office later added that while it’s not mentioned in his role, city councillor Josué Corvil will now be responsible for the reconciliation file.
Elected in Villeray—St-Michel—Parc-Extension, Corvil was named an associate councillor in charge of “cultural services, diversity and inclusion.”
Despite it not being listed among his responsibilities, the city says reconciliation is included in his mandate letter describing what’s expected of him in the role.
Still, for civil rights advocate Fo Niemi, the decision to no longer have reconciliation reflected in a member’s official role sends the wrong message.
“We have an obligation towards reconciliation,” said Niemi, the executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations. “And it’s important to continue with this commitment and make it a tradition and official policy.”
Niemi also cautioned against “lumping in” reconciliation with other files such as inclusion and diversity.
“That is one thing every public administration and every institution has to be careful with,” he added.
Projet Montréal interim leader Ericka Alneus has also spoken out against the omission, saying she is concerned the file has been left behind with the change of administration.
While unveiling the party’s shadow cabinet on Monday, Alneus announced she will be in charge of reconciliation for the opposition.
“It’s important for me to send a message to the community living here and say that we are here to hear you, to defend you and to be by your side,” Alneus said.
Nakuset, for her part, questioned whether the city consulted the community before making the change and described it as another instance of Indigenous voices “not having a seat at the table.”
She pointed to the new administration stating homelessness is its top priority, stressing that Indigenous people are disproportionately represented among the city’s unhoused population.
She noted a memorial being held at Cabot Square this week for more than 20 unhoused people who have died in the last year, the majority of whom are Indigenous.
“Our Indigenous people are literally dying on the streets,” she said, urging the city to review its decision.
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