"Citizens minus?" : urban Aboriginal self-determination and co-production in the City of Calgary

Abstract

Urban Aboriginal communities continue to seek greater influence in municipal planning and policy-development processes. Co-production has been proposed as a viable means to develop appropriate policies in full, equal, and reciprocal partnership between urban Aboriginal communities and cities. This thesis explores how a lack of consensus over the meaning of urban Aboriginal self-determination influences co-production’s utility, and addresses how the related concepts of citizenship and the politics of recognition have led to co-production’s limited success. Twenty-eight interviews were conducted with municipal leadership, Aboriginal organizations, and Aboriginal residents in the City of Calgary. A case study of the July 2015 Paskapoo Slopes negotiations in Calgary and Mayor Nenshi’s Year of Reconciliation proclamation are then explored within this context.