The Spring Conference this year will be located on Wilfrid Laurier University's campus in Waterloo, Ontario (about ninety five kilometers west of Toronto). Laurier's Waterloo campus is a close-knit community, with the whole campus spanning one large city block. Our campus is expanding and revitalizing some core facilities, and we are so excited to welcome people back to campus on the ten year anniversary from the last time Laurier hosted the spring conference!
Laurier's Waterloo campus is situated on the shared traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabe (Anish-nah-bay) and Haudenosaunee (Hoe-den-no-show-nee) peoples. This land is part of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe peoples and symbolizes the agreement to share, protect our resources and not to engage in conflict. Kitchener-Waterloo has a large urban Indigenous population (roughly 10, 000) and is within a 2.5 hour drive of 18 First Nations communities. The Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nations are only a 15-minute drive from our Brantford campus. There are 12 Métis councils within a 3-hour radius: Hamilton, ON; Brampton, ON; Kitchener, ON; Midland, ON; Owen Sound, ON; Beaverton, ON; Thorold, ON; Oshawa, ON; Peterborough, ON; London, ON; Toronto, ON; and Windsor, ON.
We recognize that Laurier's namesake, the seventh prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, left a complex legacy that holds a variety of meanings to those impacted by decisions made under his leadership, specifically Indigenous communities. For more information on who Sir Wilfrid Laurier was, please click here.