Family Mediation Canada Anti-Racism Statement

Family Mediation Canada acknowledges that in Canada, there has been a long-standing struggle with issues of racism and discrimination, in the form of denial, and in individual or group actions of violence and hate. This has systematically resided in the discriminatory structures, policies, and actions of the commercial, educational, legal, social, and governmental systems, put in place by, and to serve Canadians.

Racism and discrimination are undeniably part of our collective history. It is now time for us to work with others to ensure that they take no place in our future or that of our children. We must work collaboratively to ensure that we all do what is necessary to move forward with respect, honesty, and humility to advance the principles of equality, unity, and truth.

Toward this end, Family Mediation Canada affirms its commitment to respect the rights of all peoples in relation to their knowledge, ideas, cultural expressions and practices, and to ensure that our organization is better informed and equipped to work against racism and discrimination in our sector of society.  Through racial sensitivity training, we are committed to learning how to best be an ally to all racialized groups in Canada. Through consultation and partnership with these groups, we will use our voice and position to best ensure that there is no place for racism, discrimination, and hatred within our professional sector.

For our organization, this is a matter of principle and integrity. We recognize that being inclusive and disavowing racism and discrimination in our day-to-day work is insufficient.  We must go several steps further and adopt a proactive anti-racist and anti-discriminatory approach. Wellness, conflict prevention and all forms of mediation are founded on principles of equal access to justice, procedural fairness, and the mitigation of power imbalances.  Speaking out and acting in ways that promote true inclusion, equality under the law and systemic fairness is who we are as an organization and who we should be as a society.

We acknowledge that we have fallen short of these principles, whether through our actions or our silence.  As we move forward to publicly and explicitly affirm our commitment to undergo racial sensitivity training, we recognize that we must heal from our histories, own our part of the past, with a view towards cultural humility. We promise to use the lessons of our past to guide our organization towards a better understanding and future for all people.