Issues, ethics, memory
A CBC news team has published a story about the RCMP’s spying on Indigenous leaders in the 1970s and 80s. A sub plot to the story is the frustration that the CBC journalists encountered in their year’s-long effort to obtain information from the RCMP Security Service files. This is a frustration with which I am only too familiar. Canada's Access to Information system is broken and must be fixed.
In July 2022 Pope Francis visited Canada at the invitation of Indigenous leaders and their communities. He apologized for the Catholic Church’s co-operation in what he called Canada's "devastating" policy of Indigenous residential schools.
Emmett Hall was the last Supreme Court of Canada judge to come from Saskatchewan. He was appointed at age 65, and served on the court from 1963 to 1973. He accomplished more after the age of retirement than most people do in a lifetime. He was a formidable judge and the royal commissioner who recommended Medicare for Canada. His long service had a profound impact on Canada.
Canadian expatriate David Frum defends John A Macdonald against his detractors. I analyze Frum's case.
Former Truth and Reconciliation commissioners addressed a webinar attended by 1,000 settler allies on Bill C-15 and residential schools. I was a participant.
A group of Conservative Senators are attempting to prevent an important piece of legislation from becoming law. Bill C-262 would ensure Canadian laws are consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This bill passed resoundingly the House of Commons on May 30 by a vote of 206-79, with only the Conservatives... Continue Reading →
Increasingly it is Indigenous writers who are telling the story of their peoples’ relations with European settlers, which is as it should be. I am thinking, for example, of Tanya Talaga’s Seven Fallen Feathers and her more recent book All Our Relations, which is based upon her Massey Lectures delivered on CBC Radio in November... Continue Reading →
When they were campaigning for election in 2015 Justin Trudeau’s Liberals promised that they would adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but it appears that they are now less eager to do so. Inherent rights It took 23 years of effort and negotiation for Indigenous peoples to have... Continue Reading →
Just as the Americans are dealing with what to do with statues of Confederate leaders such as General Robert E. Lee, Canadians have embarked on their own debate about stripping the name of Sir John A. Macdonald from schools and other buildings in Ontario. At its recent annual meeting, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario... Continue Reading →
My wife Martha and I joined walkers in May for the final three days of a Pilgrimage for Indigenous Rights, a 600-kilometre trek from Kitchener, Ontario to Ottawa. The walkers encountered warm support from individuals and churches along the route but a few of us received one bit of push back from a middle-aged settler,... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 