Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Canada, representing the people of Canada stood up in the House of Commons and said the following:
Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian residential schools. The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history.This may look simple and feel like just an apology, but it is so much more. I am a Canadian. I would like to think that in many ways, I am a typical Canadian. But not in every way. I am a (somewhat) recent immigrant and I missed out on the controversy of the residential schools. Looking back on what was done in the name of the people of Canada with 19th century intentions (maybe 17th century intentions to tame the heathens?) makes most of us cringe. It is a very sad story of one set of people dominating and destroying the culture and language of a people and almost entirely wiping out a (forgive me) race of people, erasing their history and 'civilising' them.
Of course what Mr. Harper said today were just words. I do hope that the people of Canada, all of us, take the spirit of those words to heart and make Canada a more equitable and fair country for all her people. We aspire to be the small country that cares. We quietly aspire to be better than everyone else and be modest about it. Yesterday's apology was a step in the right direction. I hope that the youth of Canada realise what has been done in their names yesterday and take it as a checkpoint in history. For, many years from now, I sincerely hope that they can look back on this upcoming era as one of change, more equality and a more harmonious and happier Canada.
Now, some of you may think I am high on crack or something, but I find this apology quite moving. Mr. Harper has apologised to the Chinese for the Head Tax they paid, I think he has promised to apologise for the Komagata Maru incident and so forth. I think people have apologised for the Internment of Japanese Canadians during the second world war. It is quite amazing what governments and society has done to others in the past in a very matter-of-fact manner. What scares me is that society at the time didn't really care that much about such issues. In today's world, if someone dared suggest that we put away all Canadians of middle-eastern origin (assuming the scourge here is Islamic fundamentalism) into some sort of internment camp, take away all their possessions and leave them to suffer winters with inadequate shelter... they would have a riot on their hands. This sort of behaviour was quite acceptable with the times though. Apartheid was accepted by the white masses in South Africa. National Socialism and all its evils were accepted by a good enough majority in parts of Western Europe in the last century.
What worries me today is that 20 or 30 or 40 years from now, I might come to the realisation that something I accept today as a matter of fact, will end up being unacceptable to the society of that future. It might be considered downright abhorrent. I think we are an enlightened people. But are we really? What is the path to this enlightenment? How will it change in the future?
We also have to come to the realisation today that we cannot correct the wrongs of the past. I listened to the World Service the other day and heard about how Prince Charles is righting a wrong committed by one of his ancestors 350 years ago. It isn't always possible to correct a mistake or to apologise after the fact. Sometimes we shouldn't. I am not sure where it will end. Will the Peacock throne come home? Will the Kohinoor diamond come back? Will the Greeks get their marbles back? I doubt it.
Its bloody late now, so I shall wrap up. Yesterday was a good day for Canada. I hope that the world learns something from it and, god willing, we shall wake up to a better world tomorrow. There are times when apologising for a mistake done in the past and taking steps to correct it can have a positive impact on our psyche, our people and the world we live in. We saw that yesterday on the floor of the House of Commons in Ottawa. There lay the tears of over a hundred years of abuse.
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