Canada’s shameful history of marginalization exposed again.

CunningCanuk

Well-Known Member
Discovery of children’s remains at Kamloops residential school ‘stark example of violence’ inflicted upon Indigenous peoples

 

WintersBones

Well-Known Member
Devastating. I'm sickened and heartbroken.

Growing up in the 90's, when the last of the these schools were still running in fact, residential schools were mentioned time to time, but not the reality of them, what they really were, not at all. It wasn't until the last decade that I even truly started to understand how horrible it was, the intergenerational trauma of it, and it's still hard to understand. And that's only because I've had opportunities to listen and learn from survivors myself. I would encourage anyone to listen and hear their stories directly from those people and their families, share their pain, and support reconciliation.
 

CunningCanuk

Well-Known Member
And that's only because I've had opportunities to listen and learn from survivors myself. I would encourage anyone to listen and hear their stories directly from those people and their families, share their pain, and support reconciliation.
Amen.

For those who may not have the opportunity to speak to survivors personally, there are other resources available.


Rest In Peace Gord.
 

CunningCanuk

Well-Known Member
Ya it’s sad that just before his death Justin Trudeau promised him he would do better (I witnessed it first hand). All I’ve heard since is crickets chirping. 75% of reserves don’t even have safe drinking water and no one fucking cares.
You were at the last concert on Ottawa! Awesome.

Yeah, that’s another thing I don’t like about Trudeau. He lied to Gord.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I keep saying we are not much different than Americans when it comes to racism and bigotry. I worked as a tradesman for years and there were many bigots and racists among them, not everybody, but I'd say around 30%. I'm afraid things will only improve in proportion to the number of native lawyers and politicians we have and that takes proper education within their communities. Increasingly those communities are cities and towns and many natives migrate from the "res" looking for opportunity, just like everybody else. The fact that we still have reservations and the conditions that persist on them says a lot. Many native Canadians joined the NDP and vote for them, having become disillusioned with the Liberal party.

We did do a pretty good job of prioritizing first nations for covid vaccines though and there are very high vaccination rates up north.
 

WintersBones

Well-Known Member
Ya it’s sad that just before his death Justin Trudeau promised him he would do better (I witnessed it first hand). All I’ve heard since is crickets chirping. 75% of reserves don’t even have safe drinking water and no one fucking cares.
This is tough and I hate defending the Liberals but despite not keeping their promises they are making some progress on these issues, even if it is slow. Just keep in mind what little progress we see now is mostly better than what happened before under other more regressive governments. We just need to keep pressuring for positive progressive change and hold the Libs to their promises.
 

CunningCanuk

Well-Known Member
This is tough and I hate defending the Liberals but despite not keeping their promises they are making some progress on these issues, even if it is slow. Just keep in mind what little progress we see now is mostly better than what happened before under other more regressive governments. We just need to keep pressuring for positive progressive change and hold the Libs to their promises.
I wonder how long it would take to correct a fresh water crisis in a non-indigenous community.

Maybe instead of trying to hold the Liberals to keep their promises, we try another party.
 

WintersBones

Well-Known Member
I wonder how long it would take to correct a fresh water crisis in a non-indigenous community.

Maybe instead of trying to hold the Liberals to keep their promises, we try another party.
Absolutely, probably would be addressed by now.

But where to go from here is another situation where there's no easy answer.
I vote strategically Green and NDP depending on the election. I feel we're making some gains in support here and there and it's just enough to pressure the Liberals to do something and keep some of their promises for now. But sadly the situation is now if the NDP/Greens make strong gains its at the expense of the Liberals and then we just end up with the even more regressive Conservatives and then nothing at all changes.
 

BurtMaklin

Well-Known Member
I wonder how long it would take to correct a fresh water crisis in a non-indigenous community.
Here's one from a town 10 mins from my house. People debate the cause of the contamination, but that doesn't change the fact that something needs to be done about the water. The simple fact is that water treatment and distribution is expensive and people don't want to pay for it, they want it provided for them. When faced with the true cost of clean water people will simply do without, but it won't stop them from complaining about it.

 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Would that potentially put "more regressive governments" back in power?
Here is what Parliament looks like, the NDP are not currently an option for forming a government, however by supporting the liberals in minority governments, they often punch above their weight. The only regressive party are the Conservatives, the Bloc Quebecois will join with any party that promotes Quebec's interests, the greens are left and the independents run the ideological spectrum.

The Liberals and the NDP mostly unite against the Tories and currently the liberals are in a strong position and nobody wants to fuck around by triggering an election while they are high in the polls.

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Fogdog

Well-Known Member
No. The NDP are in many ways more progressive than Liberals.

The NDP got 20% of the vote in 2019.
Conservatives: 34%
Liberals: 33%

Liberals won the most seats and so were able to form the government without a plurality of the vote. They also lost 20 seats. It sounds like conservatives are in the same position that Republicans are here. They can win if their opposition is divided.

How is the party that got 20% going to lead? Wouldn't voting for them only hand the election to conservatives?
 

CCGNZ

Well-Known Member
Discovery of children’s remains at Kamloops residential school ‘stark example of violence’ inflicted upon Indigenous peoples

Wow, I'm not very familiar w/Canadian history and initially I'd have blamed the British, but I think Canada was independent by 1890, have always had a affinity for my neighbor up north but I guess every country has it's share of dirty laundry, some on ignorance and some on just the innate meanness that the white man can harness in the name of progress.ccguns
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Wow, I'm not very familiar w/Canadian history and initially I'd have blamed the British, but I think Canada was independent by 1890, have always had a affinity for my neighbor up north but I guess every country has it's share of dirty laundry, some on ignorance and some on just the innate meanness that the white man can harness in the name of progress.ccguns
White people are no different than any other ethnic group. It was an accident of recent history that lead to the ascendency of European powers in technology. Europe was in some ways like the ancient Greeks, many independent states all sharing a common religion, culture and language (Latin in Europe and Greek in Greece), and all in fierce competition and constant warfare with each other. Europe started to pull ahead of many traditional cultures even before the renaissance and age of enlightenment. By the nineteenth century that technological lead in arms and transportation technology (sailing ships) lead to global domination, exploitation and colonization.

Those days ended with the second world war and the birth of the UN and the world is now charting a new course.
 

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/29/residential-school-grave/
Screen Shot 2021-05-29 at 4.11.59 PM.png
The discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school in British Columbia prompted an outpouring of grief as efforts to identify the students began.

Vigils and prayer ceremonies honoring the Kamloops Indian Residential School students took place across British Columbia on Friday, and an impromptu memorial sprung up in Vancouver as mourners laid out a pair of empty children’s shoes for each of the dead. Meanwhile, Canada’s House of Commons fast-tracked a bill that would create a new national holiday commemorating children who died while in residential schools.

Remains of 215 Indigenous children discovered at former Canadian residential school site

The discovery has also prompted renewed scrutiny of the Roman Catholic Church, which operated the Kamloops school from 1890 to 1969.

Nearly 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were removed from their families between 1883 and 1996 and sent to residential schools where they often faced neglect and abuse. The schools strictly banned Indigenous languages and traditions, and Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission determined in 2015 that their use constituted “cultural genocide.”


It’s unclear what led to the deaths of the 215 children, some as young as 3, whose bodies were found at the former Kamloops residential school. Accidents, fires and contagious illness at residential schools all contributed to a high death toll, which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has estimated at more than 4,000 children.

Although the Canadian government has formally apologized and paid billions in compensation to the survivors of residential schools, the Catholic Church has yet to issue an apology of its own. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went as far as to make a personal appeal to Pope Francis in 2018, but the request was rejected.

Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, told CTV News on Friday that it was time for the church to “really accept full responsibility for reparations to families.”

While the Vatican hasn’t commented on the discovery of the mass grave, local church leaders have expressed sadness about the tragedy that it represents.

“The pain that such news causes reminds us of our ongoing need to bring to light every tragic situation that occurred in residential schools run by the Church,” Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver said in a statement. “The passage of time does not erase the suffering that touches the Indigenous communities affected, and we pledge to do whatever we can to heal that suffering.”

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, the tribal nation that found the mass grave, has saidthat more bodies may be buried on the school grounds, which have not yet been fully searched. Some experts believe that similar unmarked graves may exist at other former residential schools across Canada, since record-keeping at the schools tended to be spotty.

Finding burial grounds can be tricky, though, since many of the former residential schools have been demolished.

Indigenous leaders across British Columbia have been discussing what to do with the children’s remains, Terry Teegee, Assembly of First Nations regional chief, told CTV News. He said that the next step could be to try to use forensic techniques to identify the students, then return their remains to their home communities.

Archivists are searching the records of the Catholic order that operated the school to see if they can find any relevant burial records. Lisa Lapointe, the chief coroner for British Columbia, said Friday in a statement that her office is “early in the process of gathering information” but intends to “work collaboratively with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and others as this sensitive work progresses.”
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Those schools weren't run by the government, they were run by the mainstream protestant (Anglican and United) and the Catholic churches. The government enabled and supported the effort and the RCMP confiscated the children. Their language, culture and religion were beaten out of them and they were punished if they were caught speaking their native language. It was cultural genocide, 19th and early 20th century orphanages and for orphaned black children in Nova Scotia were not pleasant places in general.

Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children - Wikipedia
 

CunningCanuk

Well-Known Member
The NDP got 20% of the vote in 2019.
Conservatives: 34%
Liberals: 33%

Liberals won the most seats and so were able to form the government without a plurality of the vote. They also lost 20 seats. It sounds like conservatives are in the same position that Republicans are here. They can win if their opposition is divided.

How is the party that got 20% going to lead? Wouldn't voting for them only hand the election to conservatives?
Canadian politics is complicated.

As DIY already said, there is only one regressive party in Canada. As bad as the Conservatives are, they are not as regressive as Republicans and they are not devoid in reality. They also would not be a threat to our democracy.

Not too long ago the NDP was the official opposition party but their leader, who had critical appeal in Quebec, died. The new leader is a person of colour and wears a turban. The province of Quebec’s society is racist and the lost seats and votes (the 20% you quoted) had nothing to do with policy or the quality of the NDP’s leadership.
 
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