'We've been tokenized': Royal Winnipeg Ballet's entire Indigenous advisory circle resigns

Members of an Indigenous advisory committee at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet say they're cutting ties with the organization after seven years.

The Indigenous advisory circle — comprising lawyer Danielle Morrison, two-spirit elder Albert McLeod and University of Winnipeg professor Kevin Lamoureaux — resigned en masse along with a board member via letter on Friday afternoon.

The advisory circle, formed in 2018, was intended to make Canada's oldest ballet company "a more equitable, diverse and inclusive organization," the ballet's website says.

But that goal was at odds with the advisory circle's experience with the ballet's management and board of directors, said Morrison, the advisory circle's co-founder.

"Essentially, what it boils down to is that we've had this Indigenous advisory circle since 2018, and we have never been invited to have board representation," she told CBC News.

"It's really hard to provide any recommendations about the direction of where the organization is going if we're not part of the strategic planning."

Morrison said the advisory circle told the ballet's leadership that they should have board representation in 2018 and again in 2023, but that didn't happen.

She described the advisory circle's communication with the ballet's management and board as subpar.

"Leadership and your board is a reflection of your organization, and I'm really sorry to say that the relationship simply was not there," she said.

The group was typically called on to make appearances at the opening and closing ceremonies of the ballet's season, according to Morrison.

"We're not seen as equal partners. We're seen as people that need to be consulted with," she said. "We're only called upon when we're needed. It's usually when something bad is happening in the organization, or their reputation might be at risk."

Morrison says she wants the ballet company to offer the group a formal apology.

John Osler, chair of the ballet's board, said in a statement to CBC News that the company respects the advisory circle's decision and offers its gratitude for their guidance.

"We will continue to seek meaningful relationships within the Indigenous community, we will listen and learn from what has been respectfully shared on where we must do better, and we will work with Indigenous advisers and communities on finding new pathways to reconciliation," he said.