Mississauga city council has formally banned non-Indigenous teams from displaying Indigenous logos, mascots and imagery in the city’s sports facilities.

The ban, which will not affect Indigenous teams using their cultural images, follows a 2015 complaint that five hockey teams in Mississauga had logos that were harmful for Indigenous youth.

While three of the five Mississauga teams have already rebranded since the complaint was filed, the ban does not impact uniforms, which are “outside of the city’s jurisdiction,” according to its staff.

“Our position from the beginning has been that the city doesn't run these teams and these sports organizations,” said Shari Lichterman, the Mississauga’s director of recreation.

Another issue with a ban that would include team uniforms, according to Lichterman, is the difficulty in determine whether someone is appropriating or has the right to wear the logo.

“We are trying to careful and cognizant of the fact that we can't necessarily be the judge of who should and shouldn't be using the names and logos,” she said.

The sports facilities ban is part of the city’s 2018 settlement with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. In the settlement, Mississauga agreed to create a policy on Indigenous themed-logos in consultation with Indigenous groups and other stakeholders as well as provide further training around reconciliation.

According to a city staff report, all Indigenous-themed images that include mascots, symbols, names and imagery related to non-Indigenous teams had already been taken down prior to the formal ban passing at council on Sept. 11.

Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) were part of the consultations on the city’s policy and did not support the removal of Indigenous names, images and symbols in the sports facilities.

“Some logos by their very nature are obviously offensive and those should always be removed,” wrote Chief Stacey LaForme in an emailed statement.