This week has been filled with
heart-wrenching images on the TV, and in my community. The seven or eight year
process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission would down to a conclusion,
with the presentation of it’d final, six volume report to the Canadian public.
The morning long presentation was moving and dignified, as the witness of over
7000 former students of Indian Residential schools in Canada presented their
collected pain and wisdom to the population of the country. The emotional tome
was palpable, but muted, as the speakers shared their process for all to see. At the conclusion of the
event, the large crowd gave the Commissioners, Justice Murray Sinclair, Dr.
Marie Wilson, and Chief Wilton Littlechild and lengthy standing ovation. The
one ominous note in that final process was that the Federal Minister of
Aboriginal Affairs refused to stand , or to applaud the Commissioners. The
signal from out Federal Government was clear. They had little intention to
honour the 94 recommendations of the report born out of the suffering of
Aboriginal people.
The Canadian government – the so-called
“Harper Government”- refuses to sign the Human Rights document on the Rights of
Aboriginal People, and refuses to strike a National Inquiry into the deaths of
thousands of Aboriginal women. These points of resistance were reiterated
non-verbally at the conclusion of the event. Most telling for me was the
non-attendance of the Prime Minister of Canada at this event. The palpable pain
of the survivors of the schools and their children was basically refused
acceptance by our government. No commitment was made on their behalf to enter
into a dialogue of reconciliation with
the Aboriginal People. Then facts emerging
from the Commissions life seemed to have little effect on our leaders. That
between 6000 and 12000 children died in the schools between 1880 and 1990
apparently had little impact on our political leaders. The fact that the death
rate among the schools inhabitants occurred at the same rate – 1 in 25 persons
– as the death rate among Canadian troops in WW2 – 1 in every 25 soldiers.
The insensitivity, even cynicism of our
government – Harper’s government – was demonstrated when less than 24 hours
after the Commission’s presentation, the Feds grabbed centre stage with a
report on the shooting up of Parliament Hill by a deranged new-Muslim
“terrorist” – a man clearly unbalanced and insane individual . The fear factor
once again was used to swing attention away
from the pain of the Aboriginal population back toward the government’s “fear:”
agenda. Heartless cynicism and pure partisan agenda was deliberately set out to
derail the purpose of the Commission.
The following day, the lukewarm Prime
Minster did attend the closing ceremonies f the Commission, and had the
temerity, the unmitigated gall to
join hands with native leaders to prayer for the advancement of reconciliation
between races in Canada, when his spoken and unspoken declarations are clear:
he intends to do nothing, or as close to nothing as he can manage.
On that sad and depressing note I must
stop. It is 3:30 in the AM, and in two hours I must walk 5 kilometers…recovery
remains a high priority for me.
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