As part of our efforts to use our company platform to work toward racial equity, we at Lyft are taking this Canada Day to reflect on the significance of this national holiday and what it means for all Canadians, and particularly Indigenous communities. Canada Day marks the anniversary of Canadian confederation, where separate colonies were united by the Constitution Act of 1867. But today we also stand in solidarity with the Indigenous communities of Canada, whose mistreatment has recently touched off a wave of national reckoning.
Last month, the remains of 215 Indigenous children were found on the grounds of a former government-run residential school in British Columbia, and last week a second site was found in Saskatchewan with an additional 751 unmarked graves, mostly children. Even today, another discovery was reported. These discoveries have sparked an overdue nationwide conversation about crimes against Indigenous Peoples, which local nations have been documenting for years.
We deeply respect and support members of the Indigenous Communities across Canada and similarly marginalized communities in the US. Lyft operates on both treatied and unceded lands in Canada, and we have established an internal working group to advise on how to best support these communities. We plan to add land acknowledgements to our Canadian web pages as a first step in acknowledging and respecting the Indigenous peoples of a place.