No amount of funding plans or reorganization can solve this problem as long as alcohol and drug abuse persists in First Nations communities
We want simple answers. But, sometimes, there aren’t any. Take Manitoba’s child welfare system, for example. We want to find a solution to a problem that has plagued us for generations: What to do about the huge numbers of Indigenous children taken into the care of child welfare agencies each year? Meetings are held in…
As Canadians try desperately to prove we’re not Trump’s America, we make grievous social and political errors
The election of President Donald Trump in the United States is changing the political world in Canada. To his critics, Trump’s the worst of everything a human being can be. His detractors call him names that would have been considered extreme even for a president as divisive as Richard Nixon. According to his supporters, he…
Canada’s dysfunctional reserve system has produced far too many marginalized and vulnerable girls and women
An Indigenous spokesperson interviewed on CBC Radio the day after a jury acquitted Raymond Cormier in the death of Tina Fontaine said the case is a symbol of the way our society doesn’t seem to value the lives of Indigenous females as much it does those of other women. He’s right. Indigenous girls and women…
The PM seems committed to adding to the differences between Indigenous people and the mainstream, instead of trying to dismantle a divisive system
A jury’s recent acquittal of a white man for the killing of an Indigenous man highlights some of the deepest divisions in this country. One of those divisions is between people living on reserves, and the farmers and townspeople living in the vicinity of those reserves. The Red Pheasant First Nation, where Colten Boushie lived…
The large and growing Indigenous middle class has shown us the way, by successfully integrating without any loss of their Indigenous culture and identity
The Great Divide creates the rugged border between Alberta and British Columbia. However, Canada has another great divide: the trial of Gerald Stanley for the killing of Colten Boushie. It brought into sharp focus the huge chasm in this country between mainstream Canadians and Indigenous people. It’s not necessary to recite the facts of the…
The #MeToo movement has ushered in a revolution that discards hard-won concepts like the presumption of innocence and due process
If anyone doubted that the #MeToo movement has ushered in a revolution, the political execution of Patrick Brown should put those doubts to rest. As in all revolutions, not all the heads that fall into the basket deserve to be there – but the Madame Defarges of this world will gleefully stand by and watch.…
Just as it’s improper for a judge to comment on political matters, it’s completely inappropriate for politicians to comment publicly about court cases
The jury trial of Gerald Stanley, charged with second-degree murder in the death of Colten Boushie, marks a new development in criminal law. The trial itself was not unusual – a jury heard the evidence, deliberated and acquitted the Saskatchewan farmer. It’s what followed the acquittal that’s remarkable. Immediately following the verdict, the most senior…
If we had listened to Pierre Trudeau, we would no longer be talking about reconciliation – we would be at least part way there
Reconciliation between Canada’s Indigenous people and mainstream society is a goal all thoughtful Canadians seek. It’s obvious that too many Indigenous people lag far behind other Canadians by most economic and health indicators, and we must find ways to close that gap. It’s worthwhile considering what Prime Minister Trudeau has said: “The weight of history…
You can’t solve problems that can’t be discussed, yet we refuse to have frank and open discussions about a very real crisis
The controversy over comments made by Sen. Lynn Beyak illustrates that it’s virtually impossible to openly discuss Canada’s most important domestic issue: the chronic problems of poverty and unemployment in Indigenous communities. People who disagree with claims that the problem stems from Indigenous victimization – colonialism, bad governmental policy, discrimination, residential schools and the like…
You take away people’s independence and their pride by placing them in a different category than everyone else
I recently became engaged in a war of words with the editor of a local newspaper. I was accused of slurring Indigenous people by using the term “gravy train” to describe the rich benefits that a minority of people have been able to extract from the system. I had always been careful to point out…
We want simple answers. But, sometimes, there aren’t any. Take Manitoba’s child welfare system, for example. We want to find a solution to a problem that has plagued us for generations: What to do about the huge numbers of Indigenous children taken into the care of child welfare agencies each year? Meetings are held in…
