Image Credit: The Canadian Press

By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: Federal parties have wasted another opportunity to advance reconciliation

Sep 10, 2021 | 10:34 AM

IN LATE MAY, when the terrible discovery of children’s bodies on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School was made known, it cast reconciliation with Indigenous people in a new light.

For many descendants of settlers, reconciliation finally became a matter of doing what is right, rather than some cynical negotiation.

At the same time, it was evident that there was going to be a federal election coming up in the not-too-distant future.

Reconciliation was going to move to the top of the election issue list, right?

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The expectation — an entirely reasonable one — was that the party leaders would lay out clear proposals on how to move forward, having consulted extensively with First Nations leadership.

They would tell you how they would approach title and rights issues, how they would replace the Indian Act, how they would bring clean water to the dozens of reserves that still need it.

They would tell you how this nation’s relationship with its Indigenous people would never be the same in light of what was made so painfully clear here in Kamloops.

Justin Trudeau, who threw this country into an election cycle for no articulated reason, could have even framed this election as a way for Canadians to express their support for a particular vision for reconciliation going forward.

It could have been the main theme.

But reconciliation has barely received a mention during this campaign.

The Liberals, NDP and Greens each devote sections of their platforms to reconciliation, but the issue is nearly impossible to find in the Conservative platform, and the People’s Party’s Indigenous issues plank doesn’t mention the word reconciliation.

A portion of Thursday’s leadership debate was devoted to the issue, and provided little real insight into how the parties would really change the path we’re on.

So we’re back to this — reconciliation being pushed to the back-burner.

Just another issue among the many, and no real hope that the discovery of unmarked graves near residential school grounds across the country was the watershed historical moment it should have been.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

For more information:

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Support Resources:

KUU-US Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717

Tsow-Tun-Le Lum: 1-866-403-3123

Indian Residential School Survivors Society Toll-Free Line: 1-800-721-0066

24hr National Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419