WARNING: This article contains sensitive topics. Those in need of support can call the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line at 613-238-3311.
Canada has maintained the undeserved title of a peaceful country for decades. Compared to our neighbour, we are considered to be a country of angels and activists. Unfortunately, Canada’s record does not support its reputation.
While patriotism can be important, Canadians should be ashamed of our country’s past. Canada has done some good things such as taking in refugees and establishing a free healthcare system. However, we rely too heavily on the positives when perpetuating the country’s narrative in hopes of covering up our dark colonialist underbelly.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump has recently expressed his support for the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ that recently took place in Ottawa. Many Americans have even donated to the cause.
Although separated from the U.S. by a border, Canada is not free of white nationalists and supporters of colonialism. In fact, the ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest has exposed many within our country.
Unmarked graves continue to be found where residential schools once existed. More than 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and forced to attend these schools from the late 1800s to 1996—less than 30 years ago.
Starting in 1942, 90 per cent of Japanese-Canadians were detained in internment camps under the War Measures Act. Up to 21,000 Japanese-Canadians were killed by the Canadian government after being held in these camps. It is safe to say that Canada has a grim past, one that cannot be ignored.
Before reconciliation is possible, there must be acknowledgement. Germany, for example, uses the sites where Nazi crimes were committed during the Holocaust as opportunities to commemorate the tragedy and teach following generations about the country’s wrongdoings. As attempts for reconciliation, German political leaders have made apologies, yet it is the collective guilt of the nation that changed the mindset of the country.
Due to the understanding that “no German is free of history”—a phrase coined by German politician Willy Brandt—the German population has been able to grasp the concept that redemption is a never-ending process. While apologies are important (e.g., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s apology regarding the unmarked graves in Saskatchewan), words are rendered useless when actions contradict them.
Many First Nations reserves in Canada lack accessible and potable drinking water, despite many protests that have occurred across the nation. Moreover, a number of cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women remain unsolved and Canadian census data from 2016 found the majority of children in the Canadian foster care system are Indigenous.
This, combined with the federal government’s perpetual underfunding of services for Indigenous reserves has led journalists and activists to accuse Canada’s child welfare system of acting as the modern-day residential school system.
The minimal progress Canada has made to redeem itself for the horrors it has committed towards the Indigenous peoples living across the country is not enough. The same can be said of their attempts towards reconciliation following the Japanese-Canadian internment camps. In fact, reconciliation has mostly taken the shape of public statements. It seems that this progress is mostly just for show.
Other movements in Canada that challenge discriminatory systems in the country, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, have also been stunted. The calls to defund the police and end police brutality rang through the streets of Canada in the summer of 2020. Unfortunately, little has changed since the protests.
By neglecting the history of oppressed people in Canada, officials are stunting the country’s growth.
By hiding behind the mask of innocence, Canada exhibits cowardice. By taking accountability, each Canadian risks the chance of helping our country reach the potential standards its reputation has set for itself.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
