The meeting was the result of a letter from BCMF to the mayor and council requesting inclusion and partnership. The BCMF team shared the 2024-25 Action Plan with city staff and the community-based work that the BCMF is doing to repatriate Métis history and memory in BC and across the Pacific Northwest.

In this meeting the BCMF team explained that Métis people in Coquitlam as well as throughout British Columbia and across the Pacific Northwest corridor have long-standing history and memory that remains and deserves to be represented. Through strong knowledge partnerships with community partners, the BCMF research department is committed to recover these kinship networks and restore the self determination of all Métis peoples.

Director of Research Joe Desjarlais stated, “I want to thank Cory and Amanda for their willingness to meet with the BCMF research team. We look forward to building a relationship with the City staff in a good way to explore the long history of Métis presence in Coquitlam and a clearer understanding of the injustice Métis people faced. This nuanced and complex history is just starting to come to light. It was apparent in this meeting that building relationships is a priority of the City, and this is a relationship that we all want to continue.”