Raymond J. de Souza: Reconciling with history on National Indigenous Peoples Day - "That was the TRC’s impact. In the 1990s, Indigenous leaders had called for a day to celebrate Canada’s aboriginal heritage. It is a day of commemoration, but not a statutory holiday. The TRC statutory holiday, in contrast, says, in effect, that the residential schools are the most important thing in Indigenous history. Just four years ago, the future of Canada’s history seemed to be definitively different from its past. And then much changed. In 2022, the exaggerated false claims about Kamloops were exposed — not least by journalist Terry Glavin in these pages — but not as a whitewash of Canadian history, and certainly not as exculpatory of the residential school policy. Quite the contrary in fact. That summer Pope Francis visited Canada on a “penitential pilgrimage” and offered apologies, but he also said things that had not been said for a long time, praising the good work that the European missionaries did, not least in preserving Indigenous languages and defending them against the depredations of colonial authorities. The upshot is that now, four hundred years after the Jesuits’ arrival in New France, three hundred years after their beatification, 30 years after the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 10 years after the TRC, a more truthful — and thus more reconciling — history is now being told. A significant step came last year with the publication of Crosses in the Sky: Jean de Brébeuf and Destruction of Huronia by Mark Bourrie , who writes meticulous history in bracing style. (He recently published a biography of Pierre Poilievre.) Attempting the “first secular” biography of Brébeuf, Bourrie is not writing hagiography. It’s not obvious that a “secular” telling can capture the lives of saints, who are, almost by definition, outside the usual historical categories. His assessment of Brébeuf would offend many pious ears, even as he insists that we ought not “judge the people of these worlds through a 21st-century lens.” It is a worthy project, history seeking truth, rather than today’s politics shaping history. The truth can be difficult to read. Bourrie shows how the Huron and Iroquois were war-making peoples, and that the gruesome martyrdom of Brébeuf by the latter followed their usual practise of torture. The 17th-century was like that; Brébeuf left Europe in the midst of the bloodletting of the Thirty Years War. The Europeans were war-making peoples with their own tastes in torture. Would Biblioasis, the impressive new publisher in Windsor, Ont., have published Crosses in the Sky just five years ago? Perhaps, as they seem a doughty band. Would it have been received to critical acclaim then? Unlikely. Earlier this year, the Jesuits from Martyrs’ Shrine took the Jesuit relics across Canada on a tour to commemorate their anniversaries. The relics were received with honour by Indigenous leaders at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex near Calgary. A more complex, more accurate, history is now being told, 10 years after the TRC buried its own research under a political agenda. The proper response to incomplete truths — or even falsehoods — told in the past is not compensation with more incomplete truths and falsehoods. The only answer is more truth, the fruit of more open discussion, more free enquiry."
Federal power to sidestep Indian Act removed from major projects bill - "After weeks of criticism from First Nations leaders, the federal government has amended its major projects bill to withdraw the power it gave cabinet to sidestep the Indian Act. The Liberal government’s controversial legislation, which would allow cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines, sailed through committee"
The gravy train will still have to continue till the money runs out
Jamie Sarkonak: Vancouver renaming street 'šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm' puts people at risk - "The City of Vancouver describes its new name for Trutch Street, “šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street,” as a gift, but it’s more like a curse. On Tuesday, city council unanimously voted for the change, condemning 100 or so residents to a lifetime of addressarial grief. Joining them in suffering will be countless drivers who make their way down the route, delivering, visiting and otherwise trying to get from A to B. The new name means “Musqueamview” in Musqueam, but the city itself admits that nobody is likely to be able to read it in its letter-salad form: “With no fluent speakers left, this street name is a landmark moment for hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ revitalization,” notes a webpage about the change. (That word beginning in “h” refers to the Musqueam’s traditional language.) It will replace the name of Joseph Trutch (1826-1904), B.C.’s first Lieutenant Governor who, among other things , reduced the sizes of Indigenous reserves and denied the existence of some earlier treaties. That remark by the city contained an important admission: the purpose of changing the name of pronounceable Trutch Street into something indecipherable at 40 km/h is political. The goal is to involve the local population in a moral exercise at the cost of their comfort and safety. Indeed, not even the Musqueam (who insisted on this visual obstacle course, according to Deputy City Manager Armin Amrolia) are going to be capable of reading it. Beyond signalling solidarity against colonialism, impeding the passage of Vancouverites and offending the local Squamish Nation, it’s a functionally useless sign. Emergency services have already expressed their concerns that the new name will get in the way of saving lives, largely because 911 callers might not be able to pronounce the name. Most people haven’t learned linguistics to the point where they can pronounce Indigenous mainstays like the theta symbol, the tiny W, the 7 and the triangle. “Help, I’m at Sixwomkeymasem Street” is the most we can reasonably expect from people. To address these concerns, the city has suggested a second set of unofficial signs that read “Musqueamview St.” (though it’s unclear whether that solution has been finalized). Emergency mapping systems will use the unofficial English name, but it won’t appear in the bylaw, which will use the official name instead. Licenses will have to be redone, as will insurance and registration slips. Then, there are land titles, bank addresses, credit cards, etc. Anyone sending or receiving mail by Canada Post is asked to write both official and unofficial street names if possible, but to use English if only one line is available (work is being done to accept these new letters, but “most non-English lettering is not currently recognized” our letter service told me in an email this week). Other internal and external address and map systems — such as transit or B.C.’s insurance corporation — might be unable to digest these characters. “To move forward, the project team recommended that these systems use the name ‘šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm St” wherever possible, and those that cannot will use the name “Musqueamview St” with a footnote wherever possible stating “Musqueamview St is a translated name available for use while colonial systems work to accept multilingual characters,’” reads the direction from city staff. The Canada Revenue Agency, meanwhile, can only accept Latin characters, numerals and basic punctuation. “In this case, since Canada Post will be supplying the English version of the street name, that is the format that will appear in CRA records,” said media officer Khameron Sikoulavong in an email Tuesday. This won’t have any impact on tax filing, he assures me, but I’d still feel queasy not using my legal address if I were a resident. It’s no small matter to expand the letters that a system can use: even for this newspaper, our designer advises me, this article will be a headache to print due to the digital acrobatics involved. Perhaps Vancouver believes it can force decolonization on others by using this script of what is functionally a dead language. But that hope would be far-fetched: most entities that need to keep legal addresses on file won’t get the memo that there are about 100 potential new system-incompatible entries, and many won’t have the capacity to incorporate upside-down Es into their vocabulary. On the readers’ side, all sorts of barriers keep these words from being useful in wayfinding: drivers with minor reading disabilities, eyesight problems and second-language capabilities in English can get around fine with numbers and words like “Forest Way” — but with a jumble of letters with foreign marks upwards of 20 letters long? I think not. Indigenous words aren’t out of the question, either; indeed, it’s a tradition we should keep. Many excellent Canadian place names came to us this way, such as “Canada,” “Kitsilano,” “Ottawa,” “Toronto,” “Winnipeg” and “Saskatchewan.” These, however, have been appropriately anglicized, which no longer satisfies the new generation of decolonial busybodies. It’s clear that easy communication is no longer the priority. This street in Vancouver is being transformed into a “learning opportunity” to force upon commuters, similar to a Grade 1 classroom with labelled staplers and doors, as part of a wider trend. Toronto decided to rename its Woodsy Park to “Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Park” in 2019, resulting in a very awkwardly named library branch . Edmonton in 2020 switched its wards over from numbers to Indigenous words like “Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi,” which I imagine very few residents can spell or pronounce without seeing the word in front of them. Vancouver has elementary schools named “ χpey̓ ” and “ wək̓ʷan̓əs tə syaqʷəm ,” a guaranteed recipe for confusion. So, now that our wayfinding system has been hijacked by ideologues who see getting around as a secondary, perhaps tertiary purpose, we must look to provincial ministers to help, because only they have the power to do what’s right. Municipalities are not entities that are set out in the Canadian Constitution; they only exist because provincial legislatures say so. And by the same power, provincial legislatures can limit what these cities can do. The same goes for school boards... More than a cultural issue, it’s an accessibility issue."
Minister says all federal bills should be analyzed through an Indigenous lens - "Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty says other ministries — including labour, industry and natural resources — touch on Indigenous rights in different ways and the legislation they introduce should be analyzed through an Indigenous lens... She says Carney is "super open" to the idea of reviewing bills through an Indigenous lens and is willing to engage new methods brought forward by cabinet's Indigenous caucus."
Some animals are more equal than others
Woke B.C. law society hostile to verifiable reality - "What began for British Columbia lawyer Jim Heller as a straightforward battle to get his law society to admit what he believes is a simple truth about the Kamloops residential school graves has now morphed into questions over ideology. Is the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) ideologically captured by the Indian residential school narrative? And if so, is the LSBC unable to distinguish what is true? These questions arise from new legal documents in Heller’s libel suit against the LSBC. He accuses the law society of defaming him for questioning the narrative that 215 “bodies” were found in unmarked graves at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in May 2021. Heller wanted the law society to insert the word “potential” before “unmarked graves” in its educational material for lawyers to highlight that no bodies have, to date, been discovered, or unearthed, at the site. He contends that for this “crime” he has been accused of being a racist and a denialist, hence the lawsuit... “I have observed a cultural change at the LSBC over the last few years and believe ideological perspectives have compromised objectivity and ethical decision-making on certain subjects. Such perspectives include, for example, belief about the legal system’s complicity in the genocide of Indigenous people and the need to ‘decolonize’ institutions, policies, procedures and practices.” Heller cites the LSBC’s 2023 report of the Indigenous Engagement in Regulatory Matters Task Force in which the law society “acknowledges that it has contributed to the perpetuation of colonialism” and that “violation of Indigenous rights have been authorized by colonial law and normalized within colonial society.” It appears Canadian law and Canadian society are anathema to the law society. In his slim, but compelling, book On Tyranny, historian and public intellectual Timothy Snyder notes that Victor Klemperer, the literary scholar who detailed life in Germany under the Nazis, said truth dies under four modes. “The first mode is the open hostility to verifiable reality,” he writes. The LSBC position is that it is accurate when its course material says, “On May 27, 2021, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation reported the discovery of an unmarked burial site containing the bodies of 215 children.” But as Heller contends, and the LSBC agrees with him, no bodies have been found. The second mode in which truth dies, according to Klemperer, is what Snyder calls “shamanistic incantation” where endless repetition is intended to “make the fictional plausible.” The LSBC, and its supporters, continually argue that, although no bodies have been found, it can be concluded from ground-penetrating radar, the historical record and knowledge from Indigenous elders that bodies are there. If you keep endlessly repeating that 215 unmarked graves were found at Kamloops eventually it becomes the “truth.” Knowing the “truth” becomes more important than discovering the truth through facts and evidence. Once truth becomes “oracular rather than factual” then evidence is irrelevant, writes Snyder."
Even those saying land acknowledgments don't feel they apply to them - "While anti-colonial renaming is pursued by activists and often accepted by officials, the poll suggests the vast majority of Canadians aren’t concerned with many of the names recently criticized. And only 20 per cent of Indigenous respondents blamed Canada’s first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, for their people being the target of genocide... Most Canadians reject personal responsibility for past and current injustices targeting Indigenous peoples, according to the poll. Almost 80 per cent of respondents across the country said they strongly disagree with the notion they bear personal responsibility for past injustice... Shifting the timeframe to injustices happening today moved the needle only a little — a majority still strongly rejected the idea they had personal responsibility for current injustices towards Indigenous peoples. Only 18 per cent expressed some agreement. Almost half of Canadians instead pin blame on the Catholic Church — at 48 per cent of respondents. That’s a change from previous polling on the issue, said Jedwab. “There has been a big shift to blaming the Catholic Church since the Pope’s visit and the Pope’s apology,” he said. Last summer, Pope Francis toured Canada and apologized for the “evil” and “catastrophic” involvement in church-run residential schools. Previous data suggested a more shared responsibility between government, church and citizens... Indigenous respondents had a harsher view of Macdonald than other respondents did — 21 per cent blamed him — while distribution of blame placed on other actors was fairly even between the two demographics. Land acknowledgements have become a common part of certain public gatherings in Canada, from schools and governments to private companies and institutions. They are statements recognizing the traditional territory of Indigenous people where the gathering is taking place. “I don’t get the sense that it’s been a grassroots movement, in terms of who undertakes to make them and where you hear them,” said Jedwab. “You hear them from government, other policy makers, you hear them at conferences and very widely in universities and academies. You hear them at some sporting events — and that’s about as grassroots as they get. You’re not going to necessarily hear them on the construction site.” Most Canadians have heard a land acknowledgement (65 per cent), but few have spoken one (14 per cent), according to the poll. Land acknowledgements seem most prevalent in B.C. (where 76 per cent said they have heard one) and the least prevalent in Quebec (where 50 per cent said they have)... There was some support expressed for making land acknowledgments compulsory before government meetings (44 per cent strongly or somewhat agreed compared to 38 per cent who strongly or somewhat disagreed). But there was opposition to compulsory land acknowledgments before concerts, sporting events and conferences (40 per cent in agreement versus 42 per cent opposed)... When respondents were asked if they think the city or town where they live is on unceded Indigenous territory, 34 per cent said yes and 35 per cent said no. More English-speaking respondents said yes (39 per cent) than French speaking (16 per cent). The highest proportion of yes responses within Canada’s major cities was in Ottawa, at 47 per cent, followed by Toronto and Edmonton (both at 39 per cent), Vancouver (38 per cent), Calgary (31 per cent) and Montreal (24 per cent). When asked about their own personal homes, however, far fewer people thought the land was Indigenous territory. Across Canada, only 23 per cent said their own home is on unceded Indigenous territory, most in B.C. (35 per cent), fewest in Quebec (12 per cent). Even among those who have publicly made a land acknowledgment, a third still didn’t feel it applied to their town or city and another third said they were not sure. Even fewer accepted that it included their own home: 42 per cent of those who have made a land acknowledgement said it did not apply to their home or they didn’t know if it did, while 58 per cent accepted that it did. “That suggests that there is something performative, for at least a third of people doing land acknowledgements. Or there is confusion over what they mean,” said Jedwab. When asked if they thought non-Indigenous people were guests of Indigenous peoples in Canada, 37 per cent voiced some agreement while 47 per cent expressed disagreement. Across all land acknowledgement questions, younger respondents were more supportive than older Canadians, and English speakers more supportive than French speakers. Quebec was a consistent outlier of disagreement on land acknowledgement... Most respondents opposed changing the names of some of Canada’s institutions and infrastructure because of past injustice or colonial legacy. Re-naming Wilfrid Laurier University, named after former Prime Minister Wilfried Laurier; McGill University, named after businessman, philanthropist and slave owner James McGill; Confederation Bridge, linking Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick; and the Colonial Building in St. John’s, N.L., were all rejected by a majority of respondents... No demographic group reached a majority in favour of renaming those specific places. The greatest objection was 46 per cent of Black respondents who called for Laurier’s name to be removed, followed by 39 per cent of Indigenous respondents in favour of changing the Colonial Building’s name... “There is a gap between politicians and the people on these issues,” said Jedwab. “There is not strong support across the proverbial board for these name changes. There is just not a lot of traction, at least not now on these select changes.”"
Canadians reject that they live on 'stolen' Indigenous land, although new poll reveals a generational divide - "A majority of Canadians reject the idea they live on stolen Indigenous land, and the older people are, the more likely they are to say they don’t, according to a new public opinion poll. Among all respondents across Canada, 52 per cent said they did not live on stolen Indigenous land, with 27 per cent saying they do... A majority of respondents who are Indigenous (53 per cent) said they live on stolen Indigenous land, although more than one third of Indigenous respondents (36 per cent) said no. Homeowners are more likely to reject the belief they’re living on stolen Indigenous land than renters (53 per cent said no compared to 42 per cent). Students (50 per cent) and the unemployed (37 per cent) are more likely to agree they live on stolen land than workers, with full-time workers (35) more likely to agree than part-time workers (30). Respondents who described themselves as non-immigrants are more likely to reject that they live on stolen land than those who identified as immigrants (51 per cent compared to 44 per cent)... “The findings also raise important questions about the impact of public land acknowledgments, particularly when they are made without genuine understanding or conviction…. The survey results suggest that requiring Canadians to publicly acknowledge they live on stolen Indigenous lands would imply that the majority does so without conviction.”"
This suggests that renters are more likely to be left wingers than homeowners (and also the unemployed vs workers), which coheres with left wingers rejecting responsibility (also seen in being anti-car, childfree and wanting the government to control everything). Immigrants are also less self-hating
Terry Newman: She objected to land acknowledgments. Now she's paying the price for her heresy - "An elected Ontario school board councillor has been suspended by her board for expressing an opinion about land acknowledgements. It was not explained to her the exact offence she had committed, or who complained, only that the opinion she expressed apparently caused harm. Catherine Kronas was first elected to Ancaster High Secondary School as chair in 2023 and then re-elected as a council member in 2024. On April 9th Kronas’ council meeting opened as has become customary, with a land acknowledgment read aloud by Principal Jason Monteith... How this ritualized statement relates to the day-to-day roles and responsibilities of school council members is unclear. Kronas must have been wondering the same, as she piped up, objecting to its use in meetings: "In my view, the Board’s imposition of a land acknowledgment during our school council meetings undermines the democratic process and constitutes a form of compelled speech, which I believe contravenes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There is no school board policy mandating its inclusion. In my opinion, the sentiments implied by the land acknowledgment, are political in nature, highly controversial, and therefore divisive and inappropriate within a government institution. And I respectfully request that my objection be noted in the minutes of this meeting.” As far as Kronas knew, her objection had been noted for the minutes and that was that. But then on May 22, she received a letter from HWDSB, informing her that her role as an Ancaster High school councillor was “paused,” and that she didn’t have permission to attend the next meeting. It suggested that Kronas had “allegedly engaged in conduct that has caused harm and is not in compliance with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board — HWDSB policy.” The letter did not explain how Kronas’ behaviour was not in compliance or what harm she allegedly caused. Kronas secured a lawyer, Hatim Kheir, from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) to find out. He sent a letter to the Human Rights Office (HRO) of the HWDSB arguing that the decision to suspend Kronas was “unconstitutional and contrary to administrative law principles of procedural fairness.” Her lawyer advised the board that the decision to suspend Kronas was “a clear attempt to restrict her speech based on its content,” speech which, in absence of such evidence of harm, is protected by Section 2(b) of the Charter. The board either couldn’t, or didn’t think they should have to, articulate how Kronas’ objection to the use of land acknowledgments during meetings allegedly caused harm. But they knew they didn’t like her objection. In addition to trampling over Kronas’ right to freedom of expression, her lawyer argued that the manner in which the board enacted its decision also violated Kronas’ right to procedural fairness. Kronas was given a letter of suspension which her lawyer referred to as an “extraordinary and drastic step of preemptively prohibiting Ms. Kronas from attending Council meetings,” especially since she was never even given an opportunity to respond to the allegations before they suspended her. In order to effectively respond to these allegations, her lawyer points out that Kronas would need to know a number of things, including: who the complainant was; who Kronas allegedly harmed with her statement; what the nature of the alleged harm was; what the particular words were that caused the alleged harm; as well as which policies she allegedly breached. But Kronas’ suspension letter provided none of this information, nor did it say when she would be able to respond. All the letter says is that the “Board is currently reviewing these allegations.”... The suspension of an Ontario school councillor who respectfully objected to the use of land acknowledgments in meetings and was later suspended without explanation suggests the use of these statements has become religious and sacred — not to be questioned — and that those who state objections or dare not to conform, may be severely punished, without even being given the opportunity to respond."
When you violate modern blasphemy laws. Freedom of expression and due process are only for those who push the left wing agenda
Meme - Western Standard @WSOnlineNews: "Popular Tofino beach closed to public as First Nations hold ceremony honouring dead whale"
Maria @JustSurfingTheX: "At least there's a body this time."
GOLDSTEIN: Trudeau gov't tripled spending on Indigenous issues to $32B annually in decade, report says - "While the Trudeau government has tripled the amount of money it spends on Indigenous issues from $11 billion annually in 2015 to more than $32 billion earmarked for 2025, it doesn’t appear to be improving the lives of on-reserve Indigenous people, according to a new study by the fiscally conservative Fraser Institute. In “An Avalanche of Money: The Liberal Government’s Policies Toward First Nations,” author Tom Flanagan argues the most effective program at improving the lives of Indigenous people on reserves has been the Liberals’ Canada Child Benefit introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016 — a universal program that helps all Canadian families, except for those in the highest income brackets. That raises the question of where all of the other federal money being spent specifically on Indigenous issues is going, Flanagan said... the Trudeau government has repeatedly broken its 2015 promise to end all drinking water advisories on First Nations reserves by March 2021. According to the latest data available, while the federal government has lifted 147 long-term advisories since 2015, 31 remain in effect in 29 Indigenous communities... the Trudeau government is settling many Indigenous class action lawsuits without litigation, resulting in increasing liabilities for taxpayers. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux reported in July that the federal government’s estimate of all of its outstanding contingent legal liabilities, as of March 31, 2023, was $76 billion, growing by about 30% annually since 2016, a large portion of this attributed to Indigenous claims... specific legal claims with Indigenous groups are being settled by the Trudeau government at a rate four times higher than that of the previous Progressive Conservative government, leading to a significant transfer of land and money to First Nations. “If policy makers in Ottawa want to help Indigenous people, they should look closely at what types of spending policies produce the most tangible benefits,” Flanagan said."
Clearly, the problem is that not enough money was spent
GOLDSTEIN: Trudeau gov't tripled spending on Indigenous issues to $32B annually in decade, report says : r/canada - "Yeah.....in my neck of the woods the band members were each getting $25,000 lump payment on top of what they usually get. Effect: multiple deaths from overdosing, one individual spent $6k on a high-end gaming computer only to find out his internet sucked. Then one blew the whole amount on hoodies and sneakers. It's no different than lotto winners getting tens of millions and blow it all in less than five years."
GOLDSTEIN: Trudeau gov't tripled spending on Indigenous issues to $32B annually in decade, report says : r/canada - "One guy in my area was homeless, schizophrenic, and addicted to meth. He was living in a tent in the woods on his reserve, and they gave him I think $200K in cash for some settlement. He bought a truck (no licence) and crashed it immediately, burned a bunch of it in a fire to keep warm, spent the rest on liquor and drugs, and then got run over and died. I agree that the government needs to do something to try to help people like him. Throwing money at them however very clearly is not the solution."
GOLDSTEIN: Trudeau gov't tripled spending on Indigenous issues to $32B annually in decade, report says : r/canada - "The reserves insist on managing their own programs (indigenous sovereignty) and then the money disappears with corruption and little accountability."
GOLDSTEIN: Trudeau gov't tripled spending on Indigenous issues to $32B annually in decade, report says : r/canada - "The problem is social advocates love money because they get a chunk. Actually solving the problem would get them fired."
Barrister who vehemently rejects Welcome to Country ceremonies hits back at critics - "A top Victorian barrister has doubled down on her refusal to acknowledge traditional owners of the land, hitting back at critics who accused her of racism. Lana Collaris was at the centre of controversy in Victorian legal circles over her opposition to the practice of beginning every meeting of the Victorian Bar Council by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land and paying respect to their elders, past, present and emerging. At a recent meeting, Ms Collaris instead decided to acknowledge all Australians. She then posted the minutes of the meeting to social media and was promptly labelled a “racist”, a “visitor” and an “introduced species”... “Australians are starting to realise more and more that when people level an attack at you, such as you're a racist, that it means that they have no substance of their argument," she told Sky News Australia’s Outsiders. “They've almost essentially lost the argument as soon as they make that attack, because they're not addressing the underlying issue.” Ms Collaris said she had decided to acknowledge all Australians because she’d “had enough” of the constant acknowledgements of country and “wanted to take a stand against” “I'd had enough of this implicit ceding of sovereignty before every meeting, before every Zoom meeting, (and) every time we land on a Qantas flight,” she said. The barrister said the “constant repetition” of the acknowledgements of country and welcome to country ceremonies was sending the message that “sovereignty does not exist within the crown”. “That's what I've got an issue with. It's wrong in law and it's wrong in fact as well,” she said, adding that the practice was contributing a "loss of confidence” in the legal system. “The fundamental guiding principle of our Constitution today is equality of citizenship, and if you're going to take a stand that's different to that by making these repeated acknowledgments of country – which repeatedly chip away at that sovereignty – then I think Australians have an instinct, and they know that something is not quite right... “That's what I've got an issue with. It's wrong in law and it's wrong in fact as well,” she said, adding that the practice was contributing a "loss of confidence” in the legal system. “The fundamental guiding principle of our Constitution today is equality of citizenship, and if you're going to take a stand that's different to that by making these repeated acknowledgments of country – which repeatedly chip away at that sovereignty – then I think Australians have an instinct, and they know that something is not quite right."
Racial equality and believing in a modern state with sovereignty are racist
Six times race-based discrimination was normalized by Canadian institutions this year : r/CanadianConservative - "One of the things that pisses me off the most on a daily basis is the goddamn land acknowledgement first thing in the morning. Now, I'm Native, and I find the entire thing a complete joke and truly disheartening. We've got recordings of students from our school who, with the help of their teacher, crafted their own land acknowledgement. These kids are 16 to 18 years old and they're referring to themselves as "colonizers," "settlers," and "intruders" in their acknowledgement. They talk about the land being "stolen" and refer to Canada as "Turtle Island" instead of Canada, and talk about the "enduring presence of First Nations people since time immemorial." Our students hear this every day - and they've probably heard something similar every day since they stepped into a school. It's on before the national anthem - a deliberate choice because: "Indigenous people were here before Canada." Everything about this stuff is divisive in exactly the ways you mention. It sets one group apart from another - and does it in a way that makes one group nothing but victims and the other sound plain evil. How can anyone celebrate the greatness that is this country when they've been brainwashed (literally) since day one to view Canada as an oppressive, genocidal state formed through theft and murder? Man, I could go on about so many things, from Palestine to burning churches (as you mentioned) and it all skews one way in schools. It's so bloody disheartening."
Six times race-based discrimination was normalized by Canadian institutions this year : r/CanadianConservative - ""We've got recordings of students from our school who, with the help of their teacher, crafted their own land acknowledgement. These kids are 16 to 18 years old and they're referring to themselves as "colonizers," "settlers," and "intruders" in their acknowledgement. They talk about the land being "stolen" and refer to Canada as "Turtle Island" instead of Canada, and talk about the "enduring presence of First Nations people since time immemorial." It seems destructive if that's what's taught at schools. None of it helps create a single First Nation student become a successful doctor, engineer, lawyer or entrepreneur. The schools aren't prepared to give any land back nor do the "colonizers" plan to go back to Europe. The whole 'decolonize' movement is magical thinking without concrete objectives. The one concrete objective a school should have is to teach kids to navigate the world and become a successful adult. These exercises can only contradict that objective."
Selley: Welcome to Canada, where police see truth as a threat - "Does the RCMP want the truth? Can it handle the truth? The questions present themselves thanks to a bizarre entry in the Mounties’ latest “environmental scan” of ostensible risks to Canada’s security — everything from climate change to artificial intelligence, foreign conflicts and barriers to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Under the umbrella of “socio-cultural” risks, we find an entirely false allegation against the National Post with respect to an alleged article “concerning increase in residential school denialism.” “The National Post …(has published) articles questioning the devastating impact of residential schools and giving a platform to denialists calling it a hoax,” allege the RCMP’s environment scanners — in-house analysts plus, naturally, some consultants from PwC Canada. Follow the report’s citations and you’ll find this assessment appears to be solely based on Terry Glavin’s excellent “Year of the Graves” feature, published May 26, 2022, which entirely stands up factually to this day (and is the only National Post story referred to in the cited reference). Almost in so many words, the RCMP is suggesting true stories can be a threat to the body politic just because they go against the prevailing narrative. Particularly at a time when the federal government is ever more enmeshed in the business of mainstream media, it’s a chilling message to send... The Truth and Reconciliation Commission devoted more than 300 pages to the question of residential school students’ final resting sites. Nowhere did it use the term “mass grave.” Glavin argued compellingly that this inflammatory verbiage, which evoked world wars, pogroms and genocides, played a key role in prompting the many subsequent arsons against First Nations churches, the toppling of various statues, and the idea that Canada Day ought not be celebrated. Foreign countries, including China at a very sensitive time, used it to disparage Canada’s reputation. Flags were lowered for months, and to ask when they might be raised again was to risk being branded a “denialist” yourself. To wit: “If you’re going to celebrate Canada Day, understand (that) you’re celebrating these mass graves,” Montreal Indigenous activist Nakuset told CBC Radio. Glavin’s piece objectively did not “deny” the well-documented harms perpetrated on thousands of students in the residential schools — harms that have in many cases cascaded through subsequent generations. Quite the opposite, in fact... But alas, it’s not clear anyone at the RCMP or PwC even read Glavin’s article. The citation in this strange official report directs the curious not to the National Post itself, but rather to a CBC opinion piece by academics Kisha Supernant and Sean Carleton, which in turn pointed to Glavin’s article. Supernant and Carleton conceded in their piece that “some journalists — in Canada and abroad — mistakenly called the unmarked graves being located ’mass graves,’ inadvertently invoking the horrors of the Holocaust.” “But the vast majority,” they wrote, “following the lead of Indigenous spokespeople, got it right.” In other words, no big deal: Glavin was blowing it all out of proportion. Except that’s absolute nonsense. Within 72 hours of the initial discovery of potential grave sites at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, in Kamloops, B.C., Chief Rosanne Casimir was quoted in media clarifying that this was definitely not a “mass gave” — a term her First Nation had never used itself in announcing the discovery of potential graves. She and other First Nations leaders never stopped clarifying. Yet the term persisted in media reports and opinion pieces, over and over and over again. Dozens, scores of references — I ran out of time and space chronicling them, in English and in French alike... If there was a disinformation risk at play, it was the “mass grave” fetish, and efforts such as Supernant’s and Carleton’s to convince us it was no big deal. The CBC op-ed should have been offered up as an example of the problem, not as a description of it. Glavin’s article should have been noted, if at all, as a welcome corrective. My on-background conversations with people who know the RCMP and intelligence worlds suggest these “environmental scans” aren’t much understood even among them."
Clearly, we need to imprison First Nations leaders for residential school denialism, which is literally genocide
