26th
Apologies Are Easy, But We’re Still Waiting for Justice
By Garry John
The federal apology for the residential schools needs some criticism in this election. While government recognition of the abuses indigenous people faced in the residential schools system is welcome, where is the policy change?
Indeed, Canada’s opposition to the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenenous Peoples under Harper, indicates that despite the apology, not much has changed. And the water crisis in aboriginal communities continues to go unaddressed by a minority Conservative government that scrapped the Kelowna Accord, upon its election in 2006. In fact, Harper has had no problem spending $22 billion on the war in Afghanistan, while abandoning the needs of Aboriginal people in Canada. Where’s the apology for that?
The fact that Stephen Harper has decided to cap budget increments at 2% while costs have surpassed this significantly, means that aboriginal communities are hindered from developing despite what the government propagandizes. The aboriginal population is the fastest growing, and this type of restrictive fiscal policy keeps us from making any progress. So we are left on the roadside/sidelines once again. Where’s the apology for that?
And of course there is the 2010 Olympic “snow job” where Harper wants everyone to believe that all is well with indigenous peoples simply because the government has made some dollars available to a select few communities. Canada has criticized other countries for their human rights abuses, despite being taken to task in the international community for the treatment endured by aboriginal peoples in Canada. Where’s the apology for that?
And why would they offer other apologies? It’s easy to apologize for the wrongs done by previous governments against aboriginal people. But it’s time for Harper to apologize for what his government is doing to deny justice to the indigenous peoples of this country.
Garry John is a former Chief from British Columbia and a Board Member of the Council of Canadians.
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