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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

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Mr. Peter MacKinnon

Mr. Peter MacKinnon

Doctor of Laws, honoris causa

We are proud to confer upon Peter MacKinnon the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws for his unwavering commitment to academia and the Canadian legal system.

In 2012, Mr. MacKinnon became the first Prime Ministers of Canada Fellow, an initiative of the Public Policy Forum to enhance governance in Canada. He served a two-year term as Chair of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. He is currently a board member of the Council of Canadian Academies and serves on both the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on the Public Service, and the Chief Justice of Canada’s Advisory Committee to the Canadian Judicial Council. He is also Chair of the Honours Advisory Council in Saskatchewan.

His responsibilities in two of Canada’s largest science projects – the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron and the International Vaccine Centre – led to his appointment to the Science, Technology and Innovation Council of Canada from 2007 to 2012.

Mr. MacKinnon is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Queen’s Counsel, and the recipient of a Canadian Bar Association Distinguished Service Award. He is President Emeritus of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, where he served three terms as President.