Mayor says Fort Smith will never ban teepees after language of 'racist' bylaw causes concern

The mayor of Fort Smith, N.W.T., says the town will never ban teepee or other traditional structures, after some language in a proposed zoning bylaw was called into question at a council meeting Tuesday evening. 

The bylaw embedded in the agenda for the meeting, if it were to be implemented without any changes, would require accessory buildings – which are defined as garages, sheds, sea cans, teepees, wall tents and smokehouses — to be made of similar materials to the main building on a property and to meet national building and fire codes. 

"Not exactly sure how a teepee, wall tent, smokehouse or other traditional-use structures are going to meet national building codes and national fire codes," Coun. Patricia Heaton said during the council meeting, calling the bylaw " straight up racist."

"Do we want to be known as a community that limits the original stewards of this land from practising their culture?" she asked. "If so, we should stop doing the land acknowledgment if our appreciation for First Nations within town boundaries is superficial. I feel that this council is better than this." 

No one at the meeting spoke in favour of language that would limit traditional-use structures. 

Deputy Mayor Mike Keizer reminded council that Fort Smith is a "unique northern town" and that it needs to make sure that is reflected when it reviews its bylaws.

"I think some of those words may have been lifted out of pretty standard bylaws," he said. "There will be components of it that need to be tweaked from standard models in the South." 

Town staff said the proposed zoning bylaw had already been public for "quite a while" and that its last public meeting about it was only attended by one person. The bylaw will require a public hearing and to be read a second and third time before it can become law. 

In a post on Facebook, Fort Smith Mayor Dana Fergusson said she understood the wording of the bylaw had caused confusion and hurt and that is something the town "must and will fix."

"This town will never ban teepees or traditional structures. That is not the intention of the zoning bylaw or any bylaw we bring forward," she wrote. "We'll be reviewing this zoning bylaw carefully with these concerns in mind, and I invite everyone to be part of that process." 

In an interview with CBC News Wednesday afternoon, Fergusson also said the language Heaton took issue with had been quickly identified in the first draft of the bylaw. She said the copy before councillors on Tuesday should have included exceptions to the regulations for teepees and other traditional structures. 

"Under each kind of heading and description of, as they go on to describe rules in regards to how to build, underneath each of those it says 'excluding traditional structures, teepees and smokehouses.'" 

Fergusson said the town has gone back and forth with consultants about changes to the bylaw, and that it seems like the town somehow ended up with a copy that hadn't been updated. "I don't know where that came from," she said. "But it never should have been presented that way."

Fergusson also said in her public statement that if meetings about the bylaw weren't well-attended or accessible, "that's on us." 

"I'm committed to making sure our community has the information and opportunity to be heard—before decisions are made," she wrote. Fergusson said more information about when and how people can provide their feedback on the bylaw would be shared soon.