This past Saturday was Canada Day. When we first moved here, in 1994, people were still arguing about the change from Dominion Day. When we became citizens in 2003, our citizenship judge, Art Miki, told us how his father had been discriminated against for being of Japanese origin, despite having been born in Canada.
Canada isn’t perfect, but you’ve come a long way, baby.
Like all current New World nation-states, Canada was born out of colonialism and imperialism. It’s a long story, rife with racism and cruelty, but also with new hopes and dreams for many who fled the Old World. The explorations of the Voyageurs resulted in a whole new people – the Métis, who flourished here in Manitoba, despite the racism and cruelty mentioned above. The treatment of Indigenous peoples, especially with the institution of the infamous residential schools, is a shameful story that is not yet over.
For Jews, Canada was not always as welcoming as it is now (the infamous “none is too many” statement by Canada’s wartime director of the Immigration Branch has not been forgotten), but for those who were able to come, there were hopes of a better life. The same has been true of refugees from all over the world, helping to build a multiracial, multicultural society that does not seek to impose the views of a minority on all. We are all working on Truth and Reconciliation, and Indigenous voices are being heard like never before.
Nice story, right? It is part of the truth. It is certainly how we like to see ourselves, especially in comparison with our neighbours to the south, with their unresolved history of slavery and their periodic fascist spasms. We have absolutely no occasion to be smug, though.
While things are not as dire here (yet) as they are in the US, there is no reason to believe that we are immune to what happens there. Here in Manitoba alone, we have seen attempts to intimidate LGBTQ+ people and ban books from school boards, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit People issue continues to be a national disgrace, and a Freedumb Convoy shut down our downtown about 18 months ago.
It has been very heartening to see the community come out and support local school boards that are under attack from the far right, but we must continue to be vigilant. If Canada is to be a beacon of human rights and mutual community, it must be defended from those who would turn it into a hateful, fearful bastion of xenophobia and white supremacy.
(Belated) Happy Canada Day!
