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19 B C B U S I N E S S . C A N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 24 across it while researching something else) is Vancouver- based PCI Developments, whose president, founder Andrew Grant's son Tim, has created an Indigenous advisory committee and is quietly work- ing to incorporate their advice into the company's planning. That commitment to a different approach showed up when PCI, along with Chip Wilson's Low Tide Properties, began looking at its devel- opments in the vicinity of Vancouver's Great Northern Way—that strip of road along the border of the booming south edge of False Creek Flats, which is due to boom even more once the new Broadway subway stop opens there in a couple of years. As the companies looked at how to create an interesting industrial/commercial/residen- tial district around there, Grant in particular pushed for Indig- enous involvement. The com- pany ran a design charrette for the area, led by former City of Vancouver chief planner Larry Beasley, but with Indigenous consultants Ginger Gosnell- Myers, Cory Douglas and Aaron Aubin as part of the Indigenous Advisory Commit- tee that PCI instituted. The stated goal of the com- mittee: "To rethink processes that would integrate Coast Salish and Indigenous knowl- edge" and "help to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and practices into their work." It's meant to go beyond just plop- ping a piece of Indigenous art at the entrance of a building and calling it a day. That was a bold move from a private developer, says Gos- nell-Myers, previously the City of Vancouver's first Indigenous relations manager. "PCI was the first private developer that bought into the idea of incorporating Indig- enous cultural knowledge, procuring from Indigenous companies, hiring Indigenous artists," she says. "Tim's really invested in innovation. They've been working the last couple of years to decolonize their plan- ning and design process." The result of the workshop that PCI and Low Tide spon- sored was the concept of a "cultural ribbon" along Great Northern Way that would incor- porate Indigenous history and art into the defined "creative district." (Vancouver Communi- ty College has also thrown itself into the project, thanks to the enthusiasm for it from college president Ajay Patel.) The concept was so attrac- tive that Vancouver planners adopted it as an integral ele- ment of the Creative District in the big Broadway Plan. "Prior to colonization, the Creative District was a critical estuary that was home to stur- geon, oolichan, flounder, salm- on, crab, mussels and clams," the official Broadway Plan says. "The area was known as Skwácháy̓ s to the Squamish Nation, the site of a water spring that held deep spiritual connection and Indigenous knowledge. The process of re- claiming Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh knowledge and sharing it throughout the Creative District including the Cultural Ribbon is key." Gosnell-Myers says that "if Tim hadn't held that charrette, none of this would be happening." Artist and art consultant Cory Douglas says the ideas coming from the charrette are influencing the design of build- ings being planned along the road. The architects for the new Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation at Van- couver Community College are incorporating elements of Coast Salish history and practices into it: the roofline replicates the edge of an adze, a tool that is used to shape canoes. The base of the building reflects the historic foreshore that existed before False Creek was filled in at the eastern end. Grant, who prefers to stay in the background on these kinds of efforts, downplays what he's doing, saying that the company is simply "trying to be very community-minded." But he acknowledges he's developed a deeper under- standing of what it means to incorporate Indigenous perspectives since PCI com- missioned an art piece—Salish Gifts, giant "welcome baskets" in concrete—a decade ago from Coast Salish artist Susan Point for the company's Marine Gateway project. Everyone involved in the cultural-ribbon project has had training in the details of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the framework that the province and city have ad- opted as reconciliation efforts. So, these days, Grant can talk more knowledgeably than he might have been able to a decade ago about Coast Salish concepts the group would like to see incorporated in the Great Northern Way district. One is the Skwácháy̓ s concept, which includes the idea of a su- pernatural portal into another world. The other theme is about feasts, because the area was so rich in seafood. He acknowledges he's still learning. "For a huge propor- tion of our history, we have not had any engagement at all in this space." SOUTHERN COMFORT The South Flats rezoning plan from PCI Developments and Low Tide Properties has made efforts to consult Indigenous groups

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