On June 30, 2008, Minister Michael de Jong joined 15 canoes carrying police officers and Aboriginal paddlers for a brief portion of their epic eight day canoe journey down the Fraser River which had taken the participants all the way from Hope to Gibsons, visiting First Nations communities along the way. Minister de Jong's voyage ended with a landing in Musqueam Indian Band territory, where the paddlers were welcomed by a Musqueam elder and community members with traditional drumming and dancing, followed by a feast.

B.C. Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Michael de Jong (centre) paddles with Aboriginal youth and police officers of the canoe team 'Dmitri' as part of the 2008 Pulling Together canoe journey.

Minister de Jong presented funding in the amount of $30,000 to the Pulling Together Canoe Society to support the canoe journey and to Ride With The Tide Productions to assist the development of a documentary called “Pulling Together: A Sacred Journey”. The documentary is a partnership between the Pulling Together Canoe Society, Ride With The Tide Productions and Capilano College.

“Aboriginal peoples have a splendid long history of canoe travel down the mighty Fraser,” said de Jong. “By funding projects like the Pulling Together canoe journey, and the documentary, we are taking important steps to champion and celebrate Aboriginal cultures under the New Relationship.”

Pulling Together was started in 2001 by Staff Sergeant Ed Hill of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Gibsons Detachment. The event has grown in strength over the years and this year approximately 150 people from Aboriginal organizations and communities, RCMP, and police departments from across the province came together for the journey.

“It is an incredible thing to witness the positive relationships and the friendships that are developing between Aboriginal communities and the police on these canoe journeys,” said retired Abbotsford Police Department Inspector John Davidson. “We are learning and maturing in understanding, something that I believe is necessary for fostering healthy, safe communities for the future.”

The annual Pulling Together canoe journey is a wonderful illustration of government, police members and First Nations working and learning together to build bridges and new understanding in support of our common commitment to a New Relationship.

For more information about this event and the New Relationship, visit www.gov.bc.ca/arr. For more photos, click here.