The City of Greater Sudbury has adopted a new formal land acknowledgement which will now be recited prior to every city council and committee meeting.
“The land acknowledgement has been carefully developed in the spirit of truth and reconciliation,” Mayor Paul Lefebvre said during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
“It reflects not only our deep respect for the Anishnawbek people, whose lands we gather on, but also our ongoing responsibility as a municipal government to build and maintain meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities.”
The land acknowledgement “honours the history and affirms our commitment to reconciliation, partnership and mutual respect,” he said, adding that this is a “necessary and powerful starting point” so the community can “move forward in a good way.”
City council meetings currently open with a moment of silent reflection.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Lefebvre credited city Indigenous relations specialist Christian Naponse and city communications and Community Engagement director Terra Pasadowski with drafting the land acknowledgement.
Although a motion tabled by Lefebvre legislated the city’s new land acknowledgement, such a statement has been in the works for several years, sparked by a motion in September 2021 by Ward 6 René Lapierre.
“I want this to be meaningful,” Lapierre said at the time. “I don’t want this to be just another process that we do.”
Although a shorter City of Greater Sudbury land acknowledgement was written by June 2022, it was not formally adopted by city council at the time for use prior to meetings like the one adopted on Tuesday was.
The City of Greater Sudbury’s newly adopted land acknowledgement is as follows:
In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, let us begin today’s meeting by reflecting on the privilege of working in Greater Sudbury.
This is a city with a rich history that began with the Anishnaabe people. We are grateful to live, work and play on the lands they have cared for since time immemorial, and we are thankful to them for sharing these lands and resources that have supported the prosperity of this city and its residents.
Our municipality is on the traditional lands of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Wahnapitae First Nation, signatories to the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850. We are honoured to work with them in partnership and friendship toward a future that is successful for the next seven generations.
We thank them for their contributions to the vibrancy of our communities and to the guardianship of the lands in which we share. We also recognize the contributions of the Metis, Inuit and other Indigenous people in shaping and strengthening our community.
It is our collective responsibility to learn the history on which our city was built and to ensure that the mistakes made by our predecessors are overcome by our willingness to learn and grow. For Greater Sudbury and the Anishnaabe to flourish together, we must recognize and respect each other’s sovereign rights and title. With mutual understanding and collaboration, we will continue to grow together in the spirit of reconciliation.
The City of Greater Sudbury land acknowledgement is lengthy compared to some other local acknowledgements. Laurentian University's is three sentences long, and both the Cambrian College and the Rainbow District School Board land acknowledgement are two sentences.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.