I really hated that about my uni. Beginning of every semester was such a slog because every proff wanted to do one, some of them every class, and it was always the same statement; written by a group of lawyers to make sure the wording didn’t leave any room for legal ramifications.

It’d be fine with me if they personalized it and shared ways to help reconciliation become a reality, but it was always just hollow words to pat themselves on the back and gloss over the cognitive dissonance present in all Canadian discourse even tangentially related to the Indigenous population and the government contrived problems they face.

“I acknowledge that I have stabbed you and that the knife is still in your back. Okay then, goodbye.”