Furious passengers have blasted Canada‘s national airline and train company for displaying land acknowledgments.
A land acknowledgement is an increasingly common practice that recognizes an area as the traditional homeland of indigenous peoples.
One traveler who recently used both Air Canada and Via Rail, the country’s taxpayer-funded train operator, shared images of the signage on social media.
Air Canada’s display, written in French, read: ‘Air Canada recognizes the ancestral and traditional indigenous territories it overflies.’
Written in English, the train’s sign stated: ‘Via Rail acknowledges the ancestral and traditional indigenous territories on which our trains operate.’
The posts sparked a frenzy online, with many travelers rushing to social media to share outrage over the signage, with several passengers claiming the companies have gone woke.
‘This is state-sponsored insanity,’ one person wrote. ‘The woke overseers of Canada are such an embarrassment,’ added another.
‘Today we’re announcing that we feel so Guilty we’re giving Canada back to the First Nations,’ wrote a third person.
One passenger, who recently traveled on Air Canada, shared an image of the airline’s land acknowledgment display which sparked a frenzy online
It is unclear how long Air Canada has been displaying the signs, but land acknowledgments have gained popularity in Canada since 2015
A fourth person quipped, ‘Should be a land acknowledgment for the dinosaurs.’
Some felt that the acknowledgment was unnecessary and ineffective at addressing any problems between Canada and its indigenous population.
‘This used to be yours, but now it’s mine, b*****s! Basically the same right?’ one person wrote.
‘Have any of these “land acknowledgments” ever made a difference in the FN’s quality of life? Still no clean drinking water, the highest incarceration rates, addiction and despair on reserves. So it’s all just performative with these land acknowledgments,’ another added.
‘These need to stop. Draw a line, deal with any straggling issues, leave the past behind, move forward,’ a third wrote.
‘Honestly who f*****g cares? Like so what if we acknowledge the people who first lived on the land, I think we can go about our day without it being a problem,’ another person penned.
A fifth person chimed in, ‘I think Via Rail is being unnecessarily mean. These land acknowledgments are there to remind 1st Nations that their land was stolen and are never getting it back. They’re giving them a kick in the nuts.’
Others praised the companies for including a land acknowledgement, which has become a common practice across Canada, Australia and New Zealand over the last decade.
On Via Rail, the country’s taxpayer-funded train operator, the sign read: ‘Via Rail acknowledges the ancestral and traditional indigenous territories on which our trains operate’
Many travelers were outraged to see the signage claiming the companies have gone woke
‘A big shoutout to Air Canada for including an Indigenous Land Acknowledgement in their in-flight entertainment,’ one person wrote.
‘Recognizing the traditional territories we travel through is an important step in fostering awareness and respect for Indigenous peoples. Actions like these help keep reconciliation in motion. Well done, Air Canada!’
While it is unclear how long Air Canada and Via Rail have been displaying the signs, land acknowledgments became widespread in the country following the 2015 release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.
The report documented the history of Canada’s Indian residential school system, which was a network of boarding schools funded by the government that forcibly separated Indigenous children from their communities over 150 years.
One of the calls to action from the report was for companies to acknowledge Indigenous peoples as the original inhabitants of the land, and many organizations followed suit. Land acknowledgments are not required by law in Canada.
Air Canada does not have a dedicated information page outlining its policies regarding indigenous peoples, whereas Via Rail does.
The Daily Mail has contacted Air Canada and Via Rail for comment.