Indigenous relations advocate Charla Huber’s overcome a lot in her life.
“I was part of 60s scoop and I was adopted at birth and raised in a non-Indigenous home so my entire life I’ve walked in two worlds,” Charla says.
Charla’s used that experience to try and bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities together and she’s worked with First Nations communities across B.C. and Canada to try and build better relationships.
“Something people can do each day is really acknowledge that we all see the world through our own lens and your lens is made up through your experience, your culture, your background, what people around you have told, so the way you see the world is different from the way I see the world, but no one sees the world incorrectly,” she says.
As the only Indigenous person on the Victoria-Esquimalt Police Board and the new president of the B.C. Association of Police Boards, Charla is bringing a unique perspective.
“There are lots of ways to see the world and fear-based, anger-based is actually not going to solve any of the problems,” says Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps. “Charla is optimistic, she’s positive and she looks forward for solutions and that’s exactly what the world needs right now. We don’t need more fear and we don’t need more anger.”
According to the new 2021 Vital Signs report from the Victoria Foundation, racism and discrimination continue to be significant issues in our community.
“I think at this time it’s more important than ever that we bring light to and reflect on these long-standing issue around equity and inclusion,” says Carol Hall, the Victoria Foundation’s director of strategic initiatives.
For the first time, the annual snapshot of how we’re doing focused on equity and inclusion and it’s clear more work needs to be done.
“We really want to create a vibrant, caring community where everyone feels included,” Carol says.
Forty-two per cent of black, Indigenous or people of colour said they didn’t feel included and 71 per cent report experiencing racism regularly in their lives.
“It’s unsettling people are experiencing a high number of racism and it would be naive to think there isn’t racism or it’s something we can do away with,” Charla says.
For Charla, who works every day to better our community, it all comes down to identifying your own bias.
“Everyone has bias, and we all do, so we really need to take that ownership in understanding our own bias and learning to do better with it,” she says.
Find more community data at the Victoria Foundation’s newly-launched ‘Vital Victoria’ data hub.
As the only Indigenous person on the Victoria-Esquimalt Police Board and the new president of the B.C. Association of Police Boards, Charla Huber, above, is bringing a unique perspective. (CHEK News)
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