JULY 2ND UPDATE: IN THIS MORNING'S OTTAWA SUN, MARK BONOKOSKI REPORTS THAT BACK IN 2005 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPENT $1.5 MILLION IN TRACKING DOWN 5,300 LIVING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE IMPLICATED IN "PHYSICALLY, PSYCHOLOGICALLY, OR SEXUALLY ABUSING STUDENTS" AT THESE SCHOOLS. YET SOME 16 YEARS LATER, NOT ONE HAS BEEN CRIMINALLY CHARGED. THIS IS WRONG AND NOW THE NUMBER OF PRIME MINISTERS IMPLICATED IN THIS WRONG TOTALS THEM ALL- FROM MACDONALD THROUGH TO JUSTIN HIMSELF. FOR ME, MODERN PMs ARE JUST AS BLAMEWORTHY OR PERHAPS EVEN MORE SO GIVEN THEY HAVE THE BENEFIT OF VIEWING THE PAST FROM THE LOFTY PERCH OF THE PRESENT. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS LESS REASON FOR THEM TO NOT HAVE ACTED IN BRINGING THE EVIL DOERS TO JUSTICE.
OUR LOVELY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, HEATHER requested that I do a Blog on this most topical of subjects. Heather has heard so many differing accounts regarding this of late that she asked me for my thoughts. I thought you might be interested as well.
Anyway, we all know what has brought this back into the daily news; well over 1,000 unmarked graves of Aboriginal Children were discovered recently on the grounds of three former Residential Schools in Western Canada. Native Leadership is rightfully crying out for justice and, of course, many with their usual demand for more money to help survivors and all and sundry cope with the mental stress this has caused them despite the Billions of Dollars paid out to them over the years.
I say this in no way to diminish the sadness of this but I do have some questions:
First and foremost, what was the cause of so many deaths? Most occurred before the discovery of penicillin and as such it was not unusual for infants and young children to succumb to a vast array of illnesses at that time*. In fact, my own mother lost two of her siblings to illness in the early part of the last century. If, however they died as result of abuse, then the perpetrators still living should face the full force of our Criminal Law. Full Stop !!
*Stats Can reports that in 2019 deaths per 1,000 in children was but one (1). In the 1930s, it was 80.7 deaths per 1,000.
Second then, for the children who remained on their Reserves and died in childhood, how many were there and what was the primary cause of their deaths? An arm's length, properly funded Investigation should be able to determine that.
And Finally Third, it has been declared that the children were buried in unmarked graves at the first site but later reported that initially they were in fact marked but over time the site fell into disuse. Which is it? And were others similarly initially marked? Again an Inquiry would tell us.
What is without any doubt is that our current Liberal Government has known of these graves since the issuance of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report in the early Fall of 2015 when it pledged $27 million dollars to help with the discovery of their bodies. Now with it becoming front page news the Government has finally begun to mobilize these resources. The question then for Prime Minister Trudeau is... since you pretend to be the Natives' best friend why has it taken you and your Government so long to act on such an important promise?
Trudeau also promised upon becoming Prime Minister, in that same year, to spare no time and expense in ensuring that our Native Communities gain access to Potable Water. Many of those communities are still waiting today... still operating under boil water orders. If I had been Prime Minister I can assure you that this would have been my very first priority. Indeed, it is a tragedy that many throughout the Third World suffer from the lack of potable water, it is simply a crime for that to happen here in Canada - we are a prosperous First World Nation.
But this raises the following question; why haven't Indigenous Leaders taken more responsibility for their own peoples' welfare? Like the Black Leadership in the United State, some prefer to wallow in their perceived Victimization and in both cases we are talking about a timeframe exceeding well over 150 years. Sadly, this Victimization Mentality is gleefully supported by the Progressive Left and by much of the Media.
Some Natives have asserted and our Prime Minister has agreed, that they have been the subject of Cultural Genocide. In reality, their Culture, dating back to the Stone Age, was destroyed hundreds of years ago with the coming of the Europeans. Aboriginals have also been put on a Pedestal - not so much by themselves but by the Progressive Left that with the coming of the "White Man" came war and other nefarious activities such as Slavery. But if you know your History, you will realize that Aboriginals engaged in such practices as well - long before Christopher Columbus reached the shores of America. I cannot imagine any Native today wanting to return to life as it was pre 1492.
The Sad Truth in all of this though is that Victimization can be profitable especially for many of their Chiefs and Elders.
I mentioned above what I would do if I had been Prime Minister but now will change hats and pretend I am now part of the Aboriginal Leadership. Hopefully, in that capacity, I would have organized natives from coast to coast to find our own buried children and bring them back to the Reserves or to another Special Place of Remembrance. And contrary to many Media Reports, it is not true that knowledge of the whereabouts of their graves was unknown. In fact, since this news first broke a few weeks ago, numerous natives have come forward and have made it abundantly clear that they have known all along where these 'unmarked' grave sites are.
Before I finish, I want to say something about the vilification of our Country's Greatest Statesman, Sir John A. Macdonald. Simply stated, there would not be a Canada had it not been for him. Did he support the Residential School System - most certainly, but since the last School was closed in 1996 - so too did all other Prime Ministers up to and including Jean Chretien. Justin's own father was not only one of those Prime Ministers, he was also a very vocal Proponent of Assimilation. But the only criticism from the Son is to blame Churches ... especially the Roman Catholic Church. Anger against this Church is rising and as of today some half-dozen of their places of worship have been destroyed by Fire and it seems that as each day goes by another is burnt to the ground. Added to the sadness of this is that these are where Natives themselves come to pray. Remember, whatever it turns out actually happened at the Residential Schools ... the Churches were only doing the bidding of the Politicians and Governments of the day. If it turns out Evil was done - all our Governments - Federal and Provincial and the relevant Church Officials should all apologize and those still living who who were directly involved in any abuse should all be held to account.
What was done to these innocent children defies words however there is another side to it. Many in Non-Native Society saw a Culture that was broken and this was their attempt to bring Natives into the modern age. In other words, I believe they were sincere in that belief and I find it quite disingenuous for Progressives today - including our Prime Minister, to cast aspersions on greater men and women than they, from the comfortable perspective of our time.
I have heard and seen Natives in the Media say good things about their time at these Schools, - they attribute their success in life to the education they received there. But the basic premise remains - it was simply wrong to wrestle these young children away from their parents and we who are living with this today should speak out against what was done. My wife Anne and I can simply not imagine the heartbreak of having had our Children wrestled from us and place in a Residential School. But with respect to speculation of abuse and how the children died we should await the facts - that is to say - A Well-Funded Arm's Length Independent Inquiry be established forthwith to root out the truth and in so doing find answers to the Three Questions I posed at the beginning of this Blog.
As I See It...
K.D. Galagher
