About cancelling Canada Day celebrations

 So waddayathink of the City of Fredericton and other communities cancelling this year’s Canada Day celebrations? It is a controversial call but FWIW I think it is the right one.  

Solar lights mark the 751 spots where unmarked graves were found near The Marieval Indian Residential School in Sask. Photo Credit: Cowessess First Nation

Those who disagree and argue that Canada is a great country and we need to celebrate that, are missing the point. No question Canada is a great country and that we have lots to be proud of, but the Residential Schools are a huge blemish on our history, and right now, when that sorry chapter is shouting out louder than ever of the horrors it brought, I would say this isn’t the time to celebrate our greatness.  

That would be like having all the kids come to your house for your child’s birthday party at the same time your neighbour is mourning the loss of their child. Most of us would not do that because it would be insensitive. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your kid any more than not celebrating Canada Day this year means you don’t love your country. It means you understand that the discovery of those unmarked graves is a trigger for many survivors and their families, and giving up watching fireworks is a small gesture that says we that we want to help ease their pain.  

I thought our Ombud Charles Murray expressed it well In a Facebook post a few days ago. When he wrote .“The people who are saying we should cancel Canada Day, I love them. I love the idea that the country should be so committed to doing better that it feels idoesn't deserve its birthday party this year. If I had a kid that repentant, I would never stop hugging him.” 

He nailed it. To my mind, a strength of our country lies in the fact so many recognize the horrors of that part of our history by expressing empathy, sorrow and outrage. I think this speaks well of how great a country we aspire to be. Evidence of this can be found in how much traction the discovery of the unmarked graves has gained on social media. And not just passive opinion, but emotionally charged comments coming from deep within the heart.  

Photo Credit: Global News

One small example - I called out a Facebook friend who was spreading a meme that said all these children were murdered. I pointed out that while some were murdered, the vast majority were victims of indifference, of a system where they were taken from their parents and put under the charge of people who were indifferent to them, who were party to their misery and abuse and whose indifference meant these children were surviving in an environment void of compassion where they felt unloved. I added that that indifference manifested itself, for example, when those in charge didn’t even bother even isolating children who got TB, allowing it to spread to others unabated. In most contexts, that would have led to a nuanced back and forth, but in this case I was attacked as insensitive, and worse. I realized immediately my mistake was injecting fact into a conversation that was fueled by emotion. In such discussions, emotion beats facts every time.  

While my journalistic bias always favours verifiable facts, in this case I think the emotion is great. Outrage is great. I think it speaks to our commitment to improve. It is, at the risk of being redundant here, the essence of what makes Canada worth celebrating – that we confront this dark part of our history with a resolve to be better in the future.  

But back to Canada Day. It doesn’t really matter what civic pride committees or municipal councils decide regarding organized celebrations. We will all mark the day in whatever way feels right for us. Given the timing, mass celebrations do seem insensitive. But that’s not to say we can’t get together with family and friends to whatever extent is possible, and enjoy each other’s company. And yes, celebrate that we live in a country that is one of the best working democracies in the world, is safer than most, cleaner than many, culturally diverse, and is populated with people of compassion. And at the same time recognize how badly those who came before us screwed up in what was nothing short of a misguided attempt at cultural genocide. This is not about feeling guilty. None of us was party to what happened, but we inherited this and with that comes responsibility. And that is to do better for our indigenous populations.  

Progress has been made. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission stands as proof of that, but the fact that only 13 of its 94 Calls to Action have been fully adopted while 21 haven’t even been touched, shows we have a long way to go.  The other 60 are in various states of completion. 

With the discovery of the graves, the fallout from the Residential Schools has been catapulted to the forefront of our collective consciousness, so hopefully we seize the moment. We can do that by doing a couple of things. Listen to what our indigenous brothers and sisters are saying, and push our politicians. As I saw in a meme recently, gestures like cancelling Canada Day celebrations is fine, but drinkable water for the First Nations communities that need it would be better. 

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Cover Photo Credit: Karl Dore