Page 45 - Six Nations Community Plan 2019

Measuring Progress

• Community standards based on respect and responsibility • Less case load for Justice Department
are created
• Community members facing justice are processed in our
• Standards are upheld in a respectful way own community systems

Key Challenges And Concerns

• Many of the things we seek to protect as a community (e.g., environment, safety, children, wellbeing, etc.) are not subject to
any kind of standards within the community
• Regulations or bylaws we do have are often transposed from outside and may not fit our unique community. Many based
on the Canadian legal system – instead of being based on respect and responsibility they are based on organizations
avoiding damages.
• Fear that restrictive standards will make us homogeneous and conform to the standard of municipalities
• Our current system of individual land ownership and Certificates of Possession does not reflect our collective relationship with
mother earth – individualized landowners or businesses are not accountable to community or environment
• Canadian justice system is not working for our community, our members are over-represented in detention
• We want to have our own systems of justice based on our culture of mediation and dialogue, but not all in the community
may have the emotional capacity to engage in this way

Discussion

With respect to the specific goal of Justice & Community Standards community members voiced that we need systems of
standards that are based on our culture of respect and responsibility. Implementing a system of community standards has
challenges related to governance: the community needs to respect a governance system in order to respect the standards it
creates. However, as Haudenosaunee people we have very high standards when it comes to community and the environment
which we need to hold each other accountable to. Some particular recommended actions that emerged from the Community
Plan conversation that will help us move toward the goal of Justice & Community Standards are:
• Develop Community-based justice program that upholds Haudenosaunee values based on peace, mediation and
rehabilitation. Our approach should not punish those who are not meeting standards but uplift them and provide
them with the support they need to meet the standards.
• Standards need to be developed that represent the responsibilities we all have to each other and to the land.
Community must be engaged in the process to ensure concerns and opportunities are reflected, staff and resources
must be dedicated to upholding standards. Particular standards community members voiced were:
• Environmental standards for businesses and land owners and a Land Care Strategy
• Agricultural Land care standards
• Animal Control and wellbeing standard
• Employment standards based on culture and employee wellbeing
• Emergency preparedness standard for organizations and workplaces
• Food safety standards
• Landlord and Tenant Responsibility standards
• Standards of membership that reflect our diversity while upholding culture
• Create a Justice and Mediation Centre so we can overtime rely more on our own mediation processes
as opposed to external courts

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