Regina Ward 7 Councillor Terina Shaw angered the indigenous community when she asked if “some indigenous people prefer to be homeless,” but will not apologize for asking the question..Shaw was accused of “cultural misconceptions” because of the question she asked during last Wednesday’s Regina city council meeting about a motion to end homelessness..Shaw asked Sheila Wignes-Paton of the Phoenix Residential Society about one indigenous woman that Shaw had talked to from Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services..The indigenous woman told Shaw that some indigenous people do not want homes..“Can you address that and speak to that, please? Because until I had heard that from her, I had no idea there were people like that who existed, and I guess that does exist and are you aware of it?” asked Shaw..“I think maybe it’s settler culture imposing something on the indigenous community, and some may choose to not have a home per se. They’re more comfortable in living with different people … moving around, so I can see that that happens,” said Wignes-Paton..“That just verifies what she said, that there always will be people that are quote-unquote homeless in the indigenous culture because of what they prefer .. is that correct?” asked Shaw..“Yes, I would say it would be,” said Wignes-Paton..Community organizer and student Kale MacLellan addressed Shaw about her question, later in the council meeting..“No, there are not people who want to be homeless. Everyone wants a place to call home. Some people choose to travel, just like people who choose to spend their winters in Arizona or Florida,” said MacLellan..“Framing homelessness as a choice is a weird take. Nobody chooses to be homeless. Nobody chooses to be insecure.”.MacLellan chastised Shaw for asking the indigenous question to a “white lady” referring to Wignes-Paton..“I am indigenous, so I’m probably the right person to be asking that question to, not another white lady,” MacLellan said..During a CBC interview about the indigenous question, Shaw said she was not “even really” looking at Wignes-Paton’s skin, but her knowledge about homelessness..“I was asking her since she had been dealing with the housing first … It seemed like she was kind of the expert in that since she’d been dealing with that sort of housing for many years,” said Shaw..Shaw defended the question as it came from a discussion with an indigenous person..“We were told that not everybody wants a home, that in the indigenous culture, there’s people that are called Wanderers,” said Shaw. .“My question was, if this is true, which supposedly it is true, then we need to find a place where we meet people at their needs and where they want.”.Shaw asked the question in a council meeting because it is something the council needs to understand and intended no harm to the indigenous community..“We as council and mayor, we aren’t the experts, the people that are out there, the non-profit organizations, the people that are leading this and doing this work every single day are the experts,” said Shaw..“I just asked a question. I wanted some clarification and some help to understand.”.Indigenous activists were “shocked” by Shaw’s question..MacLellan said it is “an interesting way to frame homelessness.”.“I’m not aware of any teachings about people who choose to be homeless repeatedly,” said MacLellan. .“It’s really disappointing to hear that rhetoric repeated by Councillor Shaw because it’s only one person’s point of view she’s taking into consideration and not the countless other Indigenous people who have been telling her that people need homes and people want homes now.”.Coun. Daniel LeBlanc put forward the homelessness motion to the council and accused Shaw of trying to “weaponize” the indigenous knowledge shared with her..“I would say whatever internal conversations the indigenous community might be having, it’s not for settlers to use that knowledge that might be shared with them, or in some ways to weaponize that knowledge,” said LeBlanc.
