Mayor Lisa Helps says the plan is for the city to collect the money and donate it to the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations in area Victoria.

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Victoria has taken a step closer to introducing a voluntary reconciliation fund which will give landlords the opportunity to contribute financially to local Indigenous nations later this year.

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A majority of City Council committee members voted on Thursday to support the fund, which will ask property owners to voluntarily add between 5 and 10 per cent more to their annual property tax bill when tax notices are issued in June.

The proposal is submitted to the final vote of the council on April 7.

Mayor Lisa Helps says the plan is for the city to collect the money and give it to the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations in Greater Victoria, along with a $200,000 reconciliation grant that council has already approved.

The mayor says many non-Indigenous people in Victoria have expressed a desire to do more for reconciliation and council sees a voluntary financial contribution as a meaningful reconciliation commitment.

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Com. Stephen Andrew spoke out against the fund at the committee meeting, saying people are free to make contributions to local Indigenous nations themselves and don’t need to turn to a municipal scheme.

“I support reconciliation efforts,” says Andrew, who announced his candidacy for mayor in the municipal elections this fall. “However, this motion is another foray by this council into what is clearly within provincial and federal jurisdiction. For me, this is a direct signal of virtue.

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