During the past week, two women of character have put their indelible marks on longstanding issues involving First Nations, Inuit and Métis rights.
Leah Gazan, an Indigenous woman and the New Democrat member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, has proposed the extension of Criminal Code provisions on hate speech to include denialism of the genocide committed in residential schools.
Award-winning singer Jully Black brilliantly changed one word in the Canadian national anthem at last weekend鈥檚 NBA All-Star Game, replacing 鈥渙ur home and native land,鈥� with 鈥渙ur home on native land鈥�. Bam! No more arguments about details of land recognition statements: this one will have all the bases covered right from the start at thousands of major events.
Gazan鈥檚 proposal, which has not yet been tabled, is legally simple and straightforward. It is also so timely and necessary that Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller has said he鈥檚 willing to consider it. Miller is highly regarded with a sterling track record during his tenure. His nod could give a real boost to the chances of Gazan鈥檚 proposal becoming law.
A 'TIMELY AND NECESSARY' PROPOSAL
Gazan was already acknowledged for her leadership on the issues when she presented a motion in the House of Commons recognizing that the residential school system was a genocide. Her motion was adopted unanimously. An extraordinary admission by legislators from all parties.
I鈥檝e had the great pleasure of knowing Gazan for many years. Unpretentiously strong, she is a gifted communicator. I invited her several times to speak with graduate students at l'Université de Montreal and she left them awestruck. She has a knack for getting to the substance of complex issues and connecting with those who don鈥檛 have her lived experience.
On issues of Indigenous history and rights she is truly inspiring. A part of her own complex family history has also left her with an acutely deep sensitivity to genocide issues. Her father, a Dutch Jew, was the only surviving child of his family when he came out of hiding after the war.
Gazan鈥檚 partner, former NDP MP Romeo Saganash, has spoken about his family鈥檚 own suffering in the residential school system that he attended. His mother was only shown his brother鈥檚 grave decades after his death in a residential school. Gazan鈥檚 actions honour the memories of their and so many other families.
Canada鈥檚 Criminal Code was recently amended to include the crime of anti-Semitic hate speech in the form of Holocaust denial.
Denying Canada鈥檚 genocide, perpetrated by our own governments in the residential school system, should also be proscribed as hate speech in a provision with similar wording.
Anyone who followed the years-long quest by late Ottawa-area Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger to make our national anthem gender neutral realizes that it鈥檚 not changed overnight. But thanks to Bélanger鈥檚 determination, we now sing 鈥渋n all of us command鈥� instead of 鈥渋n all thy sons command.鈥� Positive change is hard to resist.
But it has to start somewhere and with a clear idea. That鈥檚 the beauty of Jully鈥檚 proposal. It鈥檚 simple, it鈥檚 easy and it鈥檚 impossible to disagree with in good faith, because it鈥檚 so profoundly true.
When the Montreal Canadiens, much to the credit of the organization, started making Indigenous land recognition statements prior to games last season, the usual gang of 鈥渁nti-woke鈥� suspects was up in arms. They tried to nit pick which Nation was there at what epoch. Their real hope was to flush the statement. The Canadiens made some adjustments but have stuck to their statement, a rarity in Quebec.
On the subject of the residential school genocide, the target of denial has often been those who speak out clearly about the deaths of native children. 鈥淟ots of children died in that era鈥� is one of the arguments thrown at people who have read the reports, heard the witnesses and know, and affirm, that Indigenous children were indeed killed.
As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission proved conclusively, there is a huge difference between the mortality rates of First Nation, Inuit and Métis children in residential schools and deaths of children in the general population era for era.
Another typical approach is to take issue based on the historically stated benevolent intention for the schools. As the Commission proved, the real intention of those schools was to 鈥渂eat the Indian out of the child.鈥�
'THAT"S WHY IT WAS A GENOCIDE"
Maybe we have trouble accepting as true what our own governments did for generations. The time for justification and argument is over. Let鈥檚 face the ugly historical fact: Indigenous kids were killed in large numbers in institutions created to destroy their language, culture and identity.
That鈥檚 why it was a genocide. Recognized as such, unanimously, by the House of Commons under the leadership of Gazan.
World history tragically includes other genocides, in particular the horror perpetrated by the Ottomans against the Armenians at the height of the First World War. That genocide has been recognized by the Canadian Parliament as well. Hitler famously said on the eve of World War II, in preparing his plans for the Holocaust: "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" The world has a collective duty to remember these horrors if we鈥檙e to have any hope of avoiding them in the future.
We, as Canadians, have a specific obligation to do everything that we can to acknowledge and atone for what Canada itself has done. Part of that atonement includes putting into Canadian law a prohibition against denial of the residential schools genocide. It won鈥檛 necessarily be an easy task in a minority Parliament. Unanimous consent to shorten delays could prove elusive.
IN 2008, POILIEVRE 'SHOWED AN ABJECT LACK OF SENSITIVITY'
On the day, in 2008, when the House of Commons made an historic apology for the suffering and death caused in the residential school system one MP, Pierre Poilievre, showed an abject lack of sensitivity. He said that he wasn't sure Canada was "getting value for all of this money" being spent to compensate former students in that system.
He added that his 鈥渧iew is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance. That's the solution in the long run 鈥� more money will not solve it.鈥�
The residential school apology came at the beginning of my career in Ottawa and stands out as one of the most emotional events I鈥檝e ever attended. Stephen Harper deserves full personal credit. The last minute behind the scenes shenanigans by the opposition Liberals to try to scupper the event were shameful and then-NDP leader Jack Layton played a key role in helping the minority Conservatives keep the historic event on track.
Poilievre was forced to issue a complete apology for his statements, but he did make them. Accepting that that apology was sincere is of course the right thing to do. The problem is, he鈥檚 still flirting around the edges of the same intolerance.
Just last month .
It is inconceivable that with the full staffing he enjoys as Leader of the opposition, Poilievre didn鈥檛 know of the Centre鈥檚 shocking positions on residential schools. One example: it ran radio ads in 2018 that said it was a myth that residential schools robbed Indigenous children of their childhood.
Minister Miller once again had the right words: Poilievre鈥檚 鈥渟tunt鈥� called into question the authenticity of his 2008 apology.
Rationalizing, Poilievre lamely claimed, 鈥淲e speak with groups all the time with which we disagree.鈥� Fact is, Poilievre would never accept to speak with a group of Holocaust deniers. His justification rang hollow.
Poilievre must鈥檝e had contact with First Nations youth growing up. Whatever it is in his makeup that leads him to these troublesome, repeat positions about indigenous people and their history is for him to explain.
Canadians, who are exhausted with the incompetence of our current government, would normally be tempted to give his second place Conservatives a chance.
Poilievre seems intent on doing everything he can to convince them not to.
Tom Mulcair was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017
