by Anne Finlay Stewart
"For over a century, the central goals of Canada's Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments;ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada." - Introduction to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Final Report.
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MP Larry Miller has not yet been through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report. Fair enough – even the summary is 388 pages long. In a telephone interview with the Hub this week, Mr. Miller said he intends to read it before responding more fully to its content and local implications.
Miller calls the Indian Residential Schools a travesty no one could deny - "the blackest mark in Canadian history". But, he says, we can't change the past, so we must move forward. He referenced Wilmer Nadjiwon, a respected Ojibway elder, as an example of a residential school survivor. Nadjiwon served in the Canadian forces overseas in World War II and worked as a fisherman, iron worker, carver and Chief of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation. "I am not saying Wilmer wasn't affected by his time at residential school, but it did not stop him." Although Miller acknowledged that Nadjiwon was not allowed to vote or hire a lawyer at the same time he was fighting for his country, he likened that to the situation of women in earlier days, now past. As for the lasting effects on the children, grandchildren and communities of survivors, Miller said he wouldn't really know about that.
When asked about the intent of the residential school system to assimilate Aboriginal people into Euro-Canadian culture, Miller replied, "Assimilation in itself is not a bad thing - whether you are Native, Irish or Scottish – but you should still get to practice your own traditions."
Miller calls some of the 94 recommendations of the Report "no brainers" and says that they are already in the works, but implementation will take time. Other recommendations he will have to consider more closely. "One thing in there that makes me leery, and that is increasing funding for the CBC. What does this have to do with this issue?"
The government will be formally responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Report , although Miller could not give a time line.
"Reconciliation is not to forgive and forget, but to remember and change." - Bernard Valcourt, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development,
"This was a policy of forced assimilation that not only destroyed the lives of individuals but of entire families and society and has had long-lasting implications on entire communities in this country." - Prime Minister Stephen Harper
