Father Garry LaBoucane, pastor of two Downtown Eastside parishes, receives community award
The B.C. Catholic
A First Nations priest who serves three Catholic centres in the Downtown Eastside has received recognition.
Father Garry LaBoucane, OMI, received an award Sept. 22 from the Christian organization City in Focus for reaching out to his aboriginal neighbours.
“I was very surprised,” he said. The priest is the pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Paul’s Parishes in Vancouver, and is very involved with the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Centre, all in the Downtown Eastside. He has been reaching out to the poor and disadvantaged there since he arrived in Vancouver three years ago.
Father LaBoucane welcomes First Nations drumming and traditional clothing at Mass. He also oversees parish programs and initiatives that encourage First Nations people to reconnect with their roots.
The Oblate priest “has made a tremendous impact on the spiritual and social lives of aboriginal communities in Vancouver,” said Tom Cooper, the head of City in Focus.
“His work focuses on reconciliation, healing, and the inclusion of aboriginal traditions in Christian faith and community.”
Father LaBoucane accepted the award humbly. “I’m just the tip of the iceberg. You can see me, but all the people who are doing the work are the ones who are not seen,” he told The B.C. Catholic after the ceremony.
City in Focus gives award recipients a cheque to donate to their favourite charities; Father LaBoucane has decided his portion will go toward workshops at the St. Kateri Centre.
“Many people, the ones who went to residential schools, never learned the traditional ways of making art,” he said.
These workshops, open to anyone in the community, give important cultural lessons, such as storytelling, beadwork, and drum-making.
“It’s an opportunity for people to learn some of the traditions that were previously always passed down from generation to generation.”
Five other people also received awards as Christians who “care for the soul of the city.” City in Focus awarded a total of $40,000 Sept. 22.
They were David Ley, an urban and social geography professor at UBC; Bill MacEwan, the head of psychiatry at St. Paul’s Hospital; Brian McConaghy, the founding director of Ratanak International, a charity that reaches out to the poor in Cambodia; and two local philanthropists who wished to remain anonymous.
Father LaBoucane was encouraged to see the many areas his Christian brothers and sisters are reaching out in Vancouver.
“I am becoming more aware about all the other things going on in the city, despite all the painful things we see,” he said. There are “lots of good people, and lots of hope. We’re all doing this together.”
