Vancouver’s decision to offer free parking only to members of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations might seem small — a token gesture tucked inside a local Parking Strategy. But what it really represents is a dangerous shift in how governments view equality. It’s not reconciliation when the city begins treating people differently based on bloodline. It’s racism, plain and simple, wrapped in bureaucratic language about “reducing barriers.”When the Vancouver Park Board approved the exemptions on October 20, it said the goal was to “reduce barriers to the Nations in accessing their own lands.” It’s a curious claim. .BARBER: New Japanese PM spells further isolation for Canada.Anyone — indigenous or not — pays to park in Stanley Park because parking fees fund maintenance, security, and environmental protection. Yet the board now insists only select groups should be exempt. That’s not reducing barriers. It’s erecting new ones between residents..A divided vision for public spaceStanley Park belongs to everyone. Turning a shared public space into one that favours certain ancestry undermines the very principle of equal citizenship. If the land is open, access should be equal. The board could have achieved reconciliation through co-management, signage celebrating First Nations history, or revenue-sharing. Instead, it chose a gesture that treats race as a parking pass.This idea of ethnically exclusive access isn’t isolated. Across British Columbia, similar decisions are expanding under the banner of reconciliation. .MacKINNON: The gathering Canadian political storm.At Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, non-indigenous Canadians have repeatedly been barred from entry during “Reconnection Periods.” For weeks at a time, only members of the Líl̓wat and N’Quatqua Nations may hike, fish, or camp there. The point, officials say, is to let the Nations heal and perform ceremonies.No one disputes cultural ceremonies. But when those ceremonies involve shutting out taxpayers from public parks they maintain, it crosses a constitutional and moral line. Temporary or not, discrimination based on who your ancestors were remains discrimination. The BC government’s attempt to shorten one such closure this fall was met with outrage from First Nations leaders, who called it “colonial decision-making.” .Yet few seem brave enough to ask why exclusion itself isn’t being called colonial.Equality must mean one law for allCanada’s Charter promises equality under the law. That principle can’t survive if municipal and provincial policies replace individual citizenship with racial entitlement. The city of Vancouver claims its new UNDRIP Action Plan demands this parking policy. But reconciliation doesn’t require setting up different rules for different races — it requires fairness, understanding, and mutual respect..BYFIELD: Why Edmonton’s city hall needs a conservative revolution.A society that begins excusing special privileges on racial or ancestral grounds invites resentment, not healing. When a government divides the public by identity, it stops governing democratically and starts moralizing selectively. Vancouver officials could have structured cultural compensation through tax credits, community permits, or shared stewardship agreements. Instead, they’ve chosen symbolism over substance..Symbolic policies, real damageIt’s worth asking whom these policies actually help. The Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh have legitimate concerns about representation and restitution. But what does free parking do to solve housing shortages, addiction crises, or unemployment in their communities? Nothing. It does, however, signal to everyone else that race now dictates entitlement.Even some urban progressives privately admit that “reconciliation fatigue” is rising. Canadians who once supported truth and reconciliation are weary of policies that appear to punish them for being the wrong colour. .OLDCORN: Alberta NDP proves it's the government union party, not the working parents party.Ironically, politically correct city hall decisions may erode goodwill toward the very causes they claim to advance.The lesson from history is simple. When public institutions define people by identity instead of individuality, societies fracture. Taxpayers fund Stanley Park, and park access should be universal. Paying to park isn’t oppression — it’s equal participation in a shared civic space..A better path forwardIf the city truly wants to foster reconciliation, it could create heritage programs that share the profits from park fees with local nations or dedicate parking revenue to First Nations youth programs. These solutions build bridges, not boundaries.Canada’s strength lies in equality before the law. That equality doesn’t wilt in the sun of reconciliation — it grows stronger through it. .HANNAFORD: Do Calgary's new councillors have it in them to repeal open zoning?.Vancouver’s new race-based parking exemption is not progressive, not compassionate, and not reconciliation. It’s the opposite of everything a multicultural democracy should stand for.True reconciliation can never come from division. It begins when every Canadian — indigenous and non-indigenous alike — stands equal before their government, their law, and even their parking meter.
