Far too many of our family histories include persecution and disruption. We should never forget this common bond
It’s said that what happens to one person impacts us all. This may seem absurd but as I gain experience, it becomes ever clearer that we have a common humanity. I’ve been teaching high school students about genocide for over 10 years. In the final project of the course, students research a topic of interest…
It’s hard to fault people when simply signing up can net a big lump of money. But the taxpayer is always on the hook
A staggering amount of money is being gobbled up by the victim industry in Canada. The Globe and Mail reported on Aug, 17, 2018, that different factions of lawyers involved in what’s termed the ’60s Scoop class action suit are squabbling over $75 million in fees up for grabs for the work they claim to have…
Trotting out historical excuses for criminal actions will only leave rural residents to continue to be terrorized by gangsters
Rural crime near troubled reserves on the Prairies must be acknowledged if there’s any hope of remedying the situation. Doug Cuthand, an Indigenous Saskatchewan columnist, believes the phrase ‘rural crime‘ is code for crimes committed by Indigenous thugs. But in Saskatchewan, for example, an Indigenous man is 33 times as likely to be convicted of…
Government is called upon for yet more legislation and more money when the real problem is poor parenting
Five calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report concern child welfare. They are all destined to fail. The calls to action focus on increasing funding for Indigenous welfare, establishing national standards for the various agencies, keeping Indigenous children in culturally-relevant homes, and reducing the number of Indigenous children in the…Tearing down statues and decrying historic decisions in no way takes the measure of a great man, or his flaws when it comes to the Indigenous
Looking for a bargain statue of Sir John A. Macdonald? Victoria city council has removed just such a statue from City Hall, where it has stood for as long as anyone can remember. The intent is to promote reconciliation with Indigenous people. This is but the latest of a series of attacks on Canadian historical…
John A. Macdonald and Louis Riel had serious flaws. So did Nellie McClung. But nothing is served by repudiating their good work
One of Canada’s best known historic heroes has taken quite a shellacking lately. John A. Macdonald’s statue was removed from a place of prominence in Victoria by order of its city council, and there have been calls elsewhere for buildings that honour his memory to be renamed. Even the city that once gloried in the…
We must embrace who we are as Canadians, the values that set us apart from the rest of the world
“Sometimes the medicine we need most comes from remembering who we were so we can reconcile it against who we wish to become,” writes Canadian poet Shane Koyczan. As we study the residential school system and its impact, it’s very important to remember that it wasn’t the fault of 21st century Canadians. It’s a part…
Beware the arrogance of the new age. Attempting to cleanse history is a fool’s or, worse, a tyrant’s errand
In the interest of righting a genuine and grave historic wrong – the suffering of our Indigenous peoples – the historical hubris of our present Canadian age is distorting history yet again. Enter the City of Victoria and Sir John A. Macdonald. In removing his statue from in front of Victoria City Hall, the denizens…
Canadian governments continue to allow the operation of a justice system constructed on a foundation of systemic racism
The ’60s Scoop never ended – only the destination changed. Instead of sending Indigenous children to white families, the government has sent a generation of Indigenous children to jail. It must end. Not long ago, First Nations people ‘caught’ leaving their reserve would be arrested and thrown in jail. Even more recently, Indigenous children were…
Indigenous teenagers around the world face problems they think are insurmountable. But there are solutions
The United Nations consistently includes New Zealand in its list of the happiest countries on the planet. Yet in the midst of all this happiness there’s very deep unhappiness: New Zealand’s teenage suicide rate is now the worst in the world. How can this profoundly unsettling anomaly be explained? The answer becomes apparent when the…