Every day, Canadians encounter signs of the countryโs work towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. And in many places you goโyour local public school, a hockey game, or a religious gatheringโyouโll hear Land Acknowledgements.
But amidst all of this awareness about reconciliation, Indigenous peoples in Canada still experience the concrete effects of colonial racism: high poverty and incarceration rates, environmental degradation and exclusion from traditional lands, and cultural erasure through assimilation.
Canadaโs political leaders have decadesโ worth of hard-won research at their disposal, plus clear and urgent advice and calls from Indigenous peoples. The change we see in Canada is more often symbolic than systemic: we get land acknowledgements, when what Indigenous peoples have asked for is Land Back. Itโs time to go beyond simply acknowledging the issues and take concrete actions for reconciliation.
We need you to help hold our federal and provincial governments accountable to their obligation for authentic reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. In 2026, you have the opportunity to triple your impact and build a movement with Citizens for Public Justice that pushes our leaders to honour and carry out calls for authentic reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Discover what authentic reconciliation looks like: John Olthuisโ On Dismantling Settler Colonialism
This campaign is born of a collaboration between Citizens for Public Justice and two long-time supporters: John Olthuis and Kathy Vandergrift. Olthuis is a Member of the Order of Canada, a CPJ co-founder, and a leading Indigenous rights lawyer in Canada. His new book, On Dismantling Settler Colonialism: An Insiderโs Perspective on Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples is available for purchase through CPJ now. Vandergrift is a former CPJ Board Chair who has worked for decades inside and outside government at municipal and federal levels to advance social justice.
โMy plea and invitation to non-Indigenous Canadians is that we work together for equitable reconciliation. We have the blueprints. We just need the awareness, the will, and the non-partisan commitment of all federal and provincial parties to embrace authentic reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and nations.โ
John Olthuis, On Dismantling Settler Colonialism
โJohn calls us to move from land acknowledgement to the urgent task of accepting the โspirit and intentโ of our treaties. He states that reconciliation โwithโ Indigenous peoples in Canadaโrather than reconciliation โtoโ a colonial agendaโis the goal and the centuries of attempts at assimilation must end. With the supportive work of Citizens for Public Justice there will be programs to coordinate โLand Backโ initiatives. I am asking for you to join them in this campaign to dismantle settler colonialism.โ
The Very Reverend Stan McKay, first Indigenous Moderator of the United Church of Canada
