Dear Editor:
Dr. Cindy Blackstock, a member of the Order of Canada, has pointed out that the discovery of the graves of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School is not just about the past, it must also be about the present.
The tragic loss of the 215 children is to be mourned; grief is an appropriate and necessary response. But the harming of Indigenous children is not only a part of Canada’s past, it is part of Canada’s present. About 165,000 Indigenous children in Canada are being systematically discriminated against by the Government of Canada.
The level of support provided to Indigenous children – in education, social services, health care, etc. – is less than that provided to non-Indigenous children. The reason for the difference is that the Indigenous children are Indigenous. Nineteen times over the last five years the Government of Canada has been ordered by various courts to fix this – and the government has either ignored the rulings or launched legal challenges against the rulings.
In this moment as Canada grieves the 215 children, we as a nation and as individuals should demand that the government provide support to Indigenous children equal to the support provided to non-Indigenous children. We, as Canadians, should expect nothing less of our government.
Peter Bush,
Fergus