Commitment to Reconciliation & Land Acknowledgement

A. Shawn Richard Law Firm (ASR Law) supports and upholds the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action. We recognize the systemic and lasting harms caused by settler colonial institutions, and the implicit ways in which settler society has perpetuated these harms. We are particularly aware of the legal system’s role in creating and perpetuating these harms. As participants in the legal system, we accept responsibility for upholding the rights and perspectives of Indigenous peoples in the areas of law in which we practice.

We maintain a commitment to continue to educate ourselves and receive culturally competent training which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal-Crown relations. We further commit to understanding Indigenous perspectives and modalities. We acknowledge and respect Indigenous peoples and their ancestry.

 

We acknowledge that our office is based in Tkaronto, a Mowhawk word which means “the place in the water where the trees are standing.” Tkaronto is built on sacred land that is part of an agreement between Indigenous peoples and then extended to allied nations to peacefully and respectfully care for it.

 

We make this land acknowledgement to take part in an act of reconciliation, honouring the land and Indigenous heritage, which dates back over 10,000 years. We further acknowledge that our office is on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit. and Métis. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, and the Williams Treaty signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa Bands.