Why you shouldn’t celebrate Canada Day this year!

BY JANIECE CAMPBELL

“If we held a moment of silence for each child who died in residential schools, we’d be silent for over 13 years.”  Unknown

July 1^st marks an annual day off that many look forward to. Aside from 24 hours of well-needed rest and relaxation, the aromas of smoky BBQ in the air and the brilliant display of fireworks at night are the traditional way of ringing in Canada going up in age. Pre-virtual world, there would be countless concerts and festivals to attend as seas of united patriots wore their best red and white with pride. But what is there to be proud of when those national colours represent the blood that this country carries at the hands of white settlers?

June 1^st marked the beginning of National Indigenous History Month; a time to honour and celebrate the traditions, heritage, and culture of First Nation peoples. But this year, on the very first day of their month, the special occasion came to a halt. The remains of 215 Indigenous children, some as young as three years old, were found buried in a mass grave in Kamloops, British Columbia. Then 104 were found in Brandon, Manitoba. Then 38 in Regina, Saskatchewan. Then 35 in Lestock, Saskatchewan. Then 180 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. All in the span of about two weeks. It’s estimated that up to 6,000 children have died in residential schools, and as the gruesome investigation continues for more missing bodies and the countdown to Canada Day rapidly approaches, how can we celebrate in this time of mourning?

The west coast has taken a commendable approach. Days after the first discovery, officials in Victoria, B.C. unanimously voted to cancel Canada Day celebrations.

“As First Nations mourn, and in light of the challenging moment we are in as a Canadian nation following the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former Residential School, Council has decided to take the time to explore new possibilities, instead of the previously planned virtual Canada Day broadcast,” Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said in a statement.

Many are encouraging other provinces to follow suit.

Dr. Angela Mashford-Pringle, an assistant professor of Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and a member of the Timiskaming First Nation, says that she feels the holiday is celebrating “colonization and oppression and genocide.”

While she advocates for any festivities to be cancelled out of respect for the children, she further added that there are many other serious issues facing Indigenous communities currently that would make the annual celebration inappropriate.

“I think there are a few things that are different [this year]. First, the pandemic, while we had it last year, it is actually hitting First Nations and Metis communities, specifically remote ones, much harder right now. We’ve also had the Inquiry for the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and the subsequent lack of response from government,” Mashford-Pringle said. “And the fact that we have a number of First Nations who don’t have clean drinking water, that we have inadequate housing and that we’ve got overcrowding in the houses that we do have.”

For far too long, we’ve been parading as America’s well-behaved neighbour. We’ve taken the stereotypes of being overly polite and apologetic and ran with it, when we’ve barely scratched the surface on the atrocities done against the people this country has built their backs on. The next time you hear someone boasting on Canada’s multiculturalism, talking about how nice our citizens are, or painting an innocent picture about the country’s past or present, do your part in correcting them. You’re allowed to be appreciative of your home and native land while simultaneously acknowledging, condemning, and taking action against its cruelty towards marginalized communities as well.

The day that you consider a cause for the ultimate celebration is recognized as a day of mourning for a community that has been disproportionately brutalized throughout the history of Canada, a nation that they named. This Canada Day, let’s not celebrate a country for being 154 years old when residential schools were in existence for 165 years. Skip the parties and fireworks (which cause devastatingly harmful air pollution anyway) and reflect on how many of the survivors of residential schools are still alive today. Instead of unifying in red and white, wear orange instead to stand in solidarity and in support of reconciling the Indigenous community with the identities stolen from them.