Solidarity Statement with Indigenous Peoples

Plan Institute is committed to supporting Indigenous peoples in the pursuit of reconciliation and decolonization. We are united in solidarity in working towards dismantling the systems of oppression that threaten the well-being, sovereignty, and longevity of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit persons, nations, and groups. We are dedicated to taking tangible actions supporting Indigenous efforts to sustain and reclaim their lands, languages, and cultures.

Plan Institute is a settler organization that has benefited from colonization. We recognize oppressive systems cause harm in enforcing colonial ideals, including past and ongoing injustices against Indigenous peoples. Achieving reconciliation requires us to confront difficult truths about our history, like the legacy of Residential Schools, and our institutional connections to these legacies.

True reconciliation and decolonization require enduring commitments to action. The histories of people with disabilities within settler colonialism are intricately connected to Indigenous experiences of forced removal, assimilation, and other violence. As is the nature of oppressive systems, structures created to harm Indigenous peoples continue to erode the safety and well-being of all marginalized people in our society.

Decolonization is not only vital to the process of reconciliation, but to achieving our organization’s core goals: ensuring the security and safety of people with disabilities. By centring the experiences of the most affected in our ongoing actions, we aim to dismantle these systems that threaten the future and security of us all. Decolonization is not an occasional tool, but rather a permanent lens we use to understand the intersecting identities of those we serve and their experiences within overlapping systems of oppression.

As set out in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Summary of the Final Report, we will take a traditional First Nations, Inuit, and Métis approach to guide our reconciliation work. This approach emphasizes resolving conflict, repairing harm, and restoring relationships. We take responsibility for facilitating these reconciliation and related decolonization processes in ways that honour Indigenous peoples and embark upon this work with humility and respect to their knowledge and its keepers.

We are actively pursuing reconciliation and decolonization through the following initiatives, which include, but are not limited to:

• Developing internal and external policies that reflect the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action by incorporating traditional First Nations, Inuit, and Métis approaches.
• Establishing connections and collaborating with organizations and communities led by Indigenous peoples or those that serve Indigenous populations. This includes strengthening our existing relationships.
• Consulting with and involving Indigenous communities.
• Evaluating our practices and services so that they are inclusive, culturally safe, and reflect diverse perspectives.
• Addressing issues affecting Indigenous communities with our partners and actively challenging bias, discrimination, and racism.
• Ensuring equitable access to all our programming and resources for Indigenous peoples.
• Ensuring equitable access to employment and other opportunities for Indigenous peoples.
• Approaching these actions with hope for a shared future where the co-dependent safety of people with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and all marginalized groups is realized.

This statement of solidarity with the Indigenous peoples is only a small step in our ongoing commitment to reconciliation and decolonization. We are dedicated to continuous learning as we strive for a future of mutual respect, understanding, and healing.

Territorial Acknowledgement

Plan Institute respectfully acknowledges and expresses gratitude for the opportunity to establish and develop our organization on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Qayqayt, Stz’uminus (Coast Salish) Stó:lō, səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group, and Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Nations.

Our work extends across the traditional lands of Indigenous peoples, including the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. We are humbled and grateful to be guided by the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded this land since time immemorial. We are committed to honouring the enduring presence of Indigenous peoples and the deep historical, cultural, and spiritual connections they maintain with this land. We acknowledge the Earth and all beings—human and non-human, living and non-living–that precede us, accompany us now, and will follow after. By being on this land, we accept responsibility to care for and sustain it, as it has cared for and sustained us.

Advocating for disability rights cannot be successful without the involvement of Indigenous peoples. At Plan Institute, we remain committed to deepening our understanding of colonial systems of oppression that affect Indigenous peoples. Our organization continues to work toward reconciliation and decolonization through concrete actions that support Indigenous communities and the Indigenous peoples.

If you would like to connect about about either of these statements, please email [email protected].