We do this Land Acknowledgement today because we would like to respect and honour the First Peoples of this land we are on, which is the traditional territory of the Anishnabek, Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee. We would like to highlight that this territory is covered by the Williams and Upper Canada Treaties.

As visitors, today and everyday we are thankful for the Peoples who have long cared for the ground we stand on. We want to acknowledge the connection the Indigenous Peoples have with our Mother Earth, and we respect that relationship, as it allows us to understand how to be sustainable and survive on this land, not only in the past or the present but into the future, together.

We appreciate that there is an innate responsibility of the Indigenous Peoples to ensure that all Peoples have the knowledge to respect the reciprocal relationships with Mother Earth, the land that allows us to remain sustainable and survive as one.

We admire the resilience the Indigenous Peoples have demonstrated and maintained throughout the history of oppressive acts against them and their continued struggle to overcome the oppression that is still present in society today. We recognize the injustices that have been carried out against Indigenous Peoples, as well as the restriction of their Kinship beliefs to the land and all it encompasses. This has occurred through acts such as the Residential Schools, the Sixties Scoop and the alarming number of missing and murdered Indigenous children and women.

We commit to stand with and beside the Anishnabek, Huron-Wendat, and Haudenosaunee Peoples and all other Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples on our Mother Earth, as we strive to do better as a society and in the work we carry out.

This is our first step forward, a single act of reconciliation. We invite you to reflect and make a commitment to educate yourself and spread awareness as well.