The Cowichan Tribes are hosting information sessions on the upcoming education jurisdiction vote. The sessions are taking place this week, with an evening session at 6:30 on Wednesday and Friday and a noon session on Thursday.
Cowichan Tribes Members will be voting on the agreement with the Canadian government that would give Indiginous peoples control over the curriculum taught at Indigenous schools within their territories. If successful, the community will have input on developing laws for education, and voting on certain education laws that require community input.
EDIT: To be clear, this will only affect curriculum in Indigenous schools, this vote does not affect the public school system in any way.
The vote to ratify the agreement is coming on January 8th and if approved that would give Cowichan Tribes jurisdiction over their education for the 2022-23 school year.
This is the result of fifteen years of dialogue between the Cowichan Tribes along with twelve other First Nations and the Canadian government.
All Cowichan Tribes voters will be receiving mailouts for a notice of the impending vote, an information package on key information surrounding the vote, and a package with instructions on how to vote or mail in a ballot.
More information is available on the Cowichan Tribes website.
