Acknowledgment of Territories, Laws, and Health Practices
The Independent Rights Advice Service is a province-wide service, delivered in communities throughout the area colonially known as British Columbia. This land is the traditional, unceded territory of over 200 distinct First Nations. It is also the home of 39 chartered Métis communities and many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people living away from their home communities.
The Independent Rights Advice Service is focused on the rights of people experiencing detention and involuntary under BC’s Mental Health Act, a provincial law developed from and applied within BC’s colonial health and legal systems. The Independent Rights Advice Service acknowledges that First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people and communities hold their own unique legal orders, justice systems, well-established health practices, and concepts of wellness. These practices existed well before colonial contact and, in spite of historic and ongoing colonial interference, continue to be strong and sustaining today.