CTN+ Statement on Truth & Reconciliation

The CTN+ acknowledges that our work takes place on Indigenous land. The CTN+ National Centre is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Kanien’kehà:ka, a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst many First Nations including the Kanien’kehá:ka of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Huron/Wendat, Abenaki, and Anishinaabeg.

The health inequities experienced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada, including the disproportionate impact of HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, are directly linked to systemic racism and colonial policies. We acknowledge that research and higher education are historically connected to these discriminatory and exploitative practices and, while we have seen that it has the capacity to do great harms, we also recognize the potential of research to help guide us towards healing.

We are committed to learning from Indigenous perspectives as we reach towards health equity. This includes actively promoting and lifting up Indigenous researchers and trainees, and promoting Indigenous methodologies and ways of knowing, including strengths-based approaches and a focus on health and wellbeing. The CTN+ is committed to open dialogue, asking relevant research questions, and working with Indigenous communities and partners to answer those questions in a meaningful and empowering way.