There has been quite a bit of discussion lately about land acknowledgements and whether they should be continued. One such discussion took place in Whitewater Region at a regular council meeting on December 3, 2025. At this meeting, Donna Burns did a presentation to Council in which she respectfully asks that Council stop uttering the land acknowledgement. Burns further explained that the land in question is subject to a treaty. Burns' presentation is introduced by the mayor at 11:34. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOLQPYt_5JY&t=2440s
Geoffrey Horsman, biochemistry professor and father of three, is suing the Waterloo Region District School Board over the mandatory imposition of land acknowledgements at school council meetings.
Land Acknowledgements in Canada are Empty Words says Shane Wenzel in this YouTube video. Less than ten minutes, this video is well balanced and informative. See it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ7lA9nnSQQ
Tom Flanagan is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary and co-editor of Grave Error and Dead Wrong. He writes:
"On December 16, Blacklock’s Reporter revealed that the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations had denied an Access to Information request for the reports filed by the Kamloops First Nation concerning the 215 human remains allegedly discovered in May 2021."
Why is the government hiding these reports?
Further to the previous post about the government's failure to release reports filed by the Kamloops First Nation, Juno News reports that Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard said Crown-Indigenous Relations failed to meet its obligations under the Access to Information Act after delaying the processing of a request for activity progress reports submitted by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation under federal funding agreements.
“The department must respond to the request without further delay,” Maynard wrote, directing the department to begin releasing the records within 36 days.
Read the full story here https://www.junonews.com/p/ottawa-ordered-to-release-kamloops
Does your municipality have a land acknowledgement statement? Does it follow the Association of Municipalities of Ontaio guidelines? For example:
"Research the history of the land within and in proximity to your municipal boundaries, including treaties, active land claim litigation and Indigenous histories. This information will be useful in helping the municipality craft a statement."
You can read the guidelines here https://www.amo.on.ca/policy/municipal-governance-indigenous-relations/guidance-traditional-land-acknowledgement
