It hasn’t been an easy few weeks for Canada.
We should be talking about the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, the declining number of cases, whether the vaccine is being administered fast enough, and when the Canada-U.S. border should be open again to non-essential traffic.
Instead, we’ve been talking about two horrible tragedies that have altered how we view our country.
The first was the discovery of the remains of 215 children in an unmarked grave at a former residential school site in Kamloops, B.C. This has reignited discussions of the residential school system, the horrible things that transpired in those schools and the impact that those schools continue to have on Indigenous peoples in Canada.
But perhaps one of the most disturbing realities about this discovery is that it wasn’t a surprise for so many people. I wasn’t floored. And I doubt I’ll be shocked when more of these burial sites are discovered, including those in Saskatchewan.
We know more are out there, and some will be found.
We should all find it troubling and tragic that there are schools in Canada that had graveyards.
The other story was the death of four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont., when they were struck and killed by a motorist driving a truck earlier this month. A fifth member of the family was seriously injured. It appears that the victims were targeted based on their faith; the suspect has been charged with first-degree murder in an incident that prosecutors say was an act of terrorism.
In Canada, we pride ourselves for being tolerant, open-minded and accepting of all individuals, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or other factors. And for the most part, that description fits the people of this country.
So when incidents like this occur, they reverberate even more.
In the case of the residential school discovery, while it’s true that the deaths of these children happened decades ago, it’s the latest chapter in our country’s greatest disgrace. We can’t deny that these things happened in our country. We can’t deny that national leaders ran these schools in an effort to assimilate Indigenous people, to rob them of their culture.
A troubling footnote to the story is that the last residential school didn`t close until 1996. And it was in Saskatchewan.
While an incident to the degree of the one in London is rare, most, if not all, Muslims in Canada will tell you about the discrimination they have faced and the slurs they have heard over the years.
Since the discovery of the remains of the 215 children, we’ve been hearing calls to cancel Canada Day celebrations. Some communities have actually heeded that call.
That`s not a call I`ll heed. Not this year. Not any year.
I’ve always been a fiercely patriotic individual who believes that we live in the greatest country in the world. I believe that Canada affords opportunities and freedoms that we wouldn’t have in other countries. I believe in our democratic systems, our law enforcement and the quality of life that we can experience in this country, although I concede there is always room for improvement and many haven’t enjoyed the same opportunities I have had.
Cancelling Canada Day doesn’t change anything. It just further empowers the cancel culture segments of society who think that the best way to respond to situations like these is to erase and boycott, rather than learn, educate, adapt and improve.
Yes, we have a long way to go, and we have chapters in our history that are less than flattering for Canada, its institutions and our people as a whole. But so does every country.
We live in a pretty great country. Most of us are tolerant, caring people who accept those different from us and understand the value of people of all races and religions to Canada.
But there are those who don’t share that philosophy.
There will always be some with troubling worldviews, who shun and snub those different from them. We can’t pretend they don`t exist, or that we can fully eradicate these attitudes from our society.
But with Canada Day approaching, we can reflect on recent tragedies, and use them as reminders of how far we still have to go.
And we can still celebrate the many ways that Canada is a great country.
