CBC producer Craig Desson poses the question, “If Montreal lies on unceded Indigenous land, can anyone actually ‘own’ property on it?” In the article, he consults Mohawk Council of Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Otis Simon who confirmed that Aboriginal title to the land was never extinguished and therefore all who come after are “artificial title holders”.

This doesn’t mean you have to give it back, especially at the individual level. What it does mean is that we need to find a way to honour Aboriginal title and find a way to share land at a national level so that justice is finally served.

SELF REFLECT: Land ownership is complicated and fraught with injustice. Reflect on these questions to more deeply connect with the possibilities going forward:

What does it mean to own land?

Is it possible to own land if the entity that originally sold it or allocated it did not own it themselves?

Can we even own land and should we?

We used to think it was normal and just to own people, i.e. wives and slaves. Thankfully we now know that this is not morally, ethically or even rationally possible. Do we need to evolve our understanding of land ownership in the same way? What would it mean to caretake or steward the land instead?