Reconciliation
"We are all Treaty people who share responsibility for taking action on reconciliation" (Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada).
Reconciliation is not a statement or a symbol. It is an ongoing responsibility that requires learning, accountability, and sustained action.
Clausework operates in Toronto (Tkaronto), the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Chippewa, Haudenosaunee, and Wendat peoples. This land is subject to multiple treaties that arose in very different circumstances, and understanding those differences matters.
The Dish With One Spoon Treaty was an agreement between the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples, grounded in principles of reciprocity, mutual responsibility, and the peaceable sharing of land and resources. It reflects a legal and ethical framework based on relationship, restraint, and collective care.
By contrast, Treaty 13 and the Williams Treaties were agreements between First Nations and the Crown, concluded under profoundly unequal conditions. These treaties were negotiated without legal representation for First Nations, often without translators, and under conditions shaped by pressure and disinformation. They resulted in the surrender of vast territories for nominal compensation and, in the case of the Williams Treaties, the forced relinquishment of hunting and fishing rights central to Indigenous ways of life.
Although settlements have since been reached in relation to these treaties, they have not restored the full value of the lands taken. Not all harvesting rights have been returned, and lands added back to reserve bases continue to accrue taxes pending completion of federal processes. In other words, the legal settlements do not represent full restitution, and the impacts of dispossession remain ongoing.
Understanding this history is essential. But understanding alone is not enough.
Structural violence & workplace realities
Colonization is not a closed chapter. Its effects continue to shape access to safety, credibility, and opportunity, including in workplaces.
Indigenous peoples continue to experience structural violence through:
- systemic barriers to housing, healthcare, and employment
- over-criminalization and under-protection by institutions
- intergenerational trauma linked to residential schools and land dispossession
- lack of culturally safe responses when harm occurs
These realities show up in workplace contexts in concrete ways: who feels safe reporting harm, whose credibility is questioned, how accommodations are assessed, and how investigations are conducted.
My trauma- and violence-informed approach reflects this understanding. It recognizes that harm is often ongoing and shaped by forces beyond an individual’s control. It also recognizes that workplace systems can either compound that harm or help mitigate it.
How reconciliation informs my work
Reconciliation is a professional responsibility in my practice, not a branding exercise.
This shows up in how I:
- design workplace policies and programs that account for power, history, and unequal access to safety
- help employers meet Call to Action #92 by embedding respect for Indigenous rights and identity into workplace systems
- conduct investigations that are rigorous, neutral, and fair while remaining attentive to structural context
- deliver training that focuses on systems, decision-making, and accountability rather than individual blame
I approach this work with humility and care. I do not assume expertise over lived experience, and I recognize that Reconciliation requires ongoing learning, including unlearning.
backing it up with action
Reconciliation also requires materially supporting communities affected by colonial harm.
In addition to my professional work, I contribute time and resources to community-based efforts that serve Indigenous people, including:
- Board service with Neighbourhood Information Post, a Toronto-based organization supporting low-income and unhoused communities (many of whom are Indigenous) through a rent bank, trusteeship services, and income tax clinics. I currently serve on its Anti-Oppression & Accessibility, Governance, and Human Resources committees.
- Pro bono legal education and advice delivered through organizations such as the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto, whose clients include a significant number of Indigenous women and gender diverse folks, particularly those navigating economic precarity or post-incarceration transitions.
This is not a one-time initiative. It is an ongoing commitment to practicing law thoughtfully and supporting a more just future.
Updated December 2025