Tuesday October 3, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated 4:21 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
With the first provincial recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (as a statutory holiday on September 30, observed on Mon October 2 this year in terms of government and schools) just recently observed, it was a topic of statements in the BC Legislative assembly today on this first day of the fall session (which runs October 3 through November 30).
Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin acknowledged two leaders if the Orange Shirt movement: Phyllis Webstad and Eddy Charlie. Rankin also thanked the government of Scotland for being cooperative in the return of a totem pole (that is over 100 years old) to BC in recent weeks (the return being officially celebrated on September 30. He called that an example of ‘reconciliation in action’.
Rankin says it is a solemn experience to listen to survivors, and that the truth matters. “The acknowledgment that there will be more to come is a heavy sadness,” said Rankin regarding the knowledge of more unmarked graves to be uncovered.
Rankin said that September 30 (as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) is not intended to be ‘a day of rest’ but a day for action. As with many statutory holidays, many people do just take the opportunity for rest given the stressful impacts of modern living.
BC Greens:
BC Green House Leader Adam Olsen (Saanich North and the Islands) — who is himself Indigenous — says it has taken “a significant amount of political momentum” to make the changes that gave been seen so far to improve the lives and circumstances of Indigenous peoples in BC. He says that “colonial games continue” (one nation in the territory ignores the others) and that “Indigenous Peoples need representation that is outside this political drama.. our relatives need advocates in here…”. He hopes the government will “stop forcing Indigenous people to fight for every centimeter”.
Referring to the government’s actions: “What they would like to do or what they believe they should do is not always aligned with what is pragmatic.”
He says he still sees the rights of Indigenous parents infringed upon when it comes to the care of their children, calling it an “urgent crisis”.
Olsen said that “teachers are on the forefront of change — teachers are well ahead (having upheld Orange Shirt Day for years), and a result we have a new generation of British Columbians and Canadians who have finally been taught our true history”.
He said that he raises his hands to the thousands of British Columbians he saw wearing orange shirts this weekend, and to those who organized and hosted events.
BC United:
As the BC United shadow minister for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, MLA Michael Lee (Vancouver-Langara) gave an illustration of how mothers of children who’ve been taken away (even now, into the foster care system) are traumatized to see other mothers picking up their children after school. ‘Why can’t I be doing that with my children’ he conveyed as the viewpoint of parents in such a scenario.
Children who’ve been taken from families “did not know their parents love” because they were separated from their families, said Lee.
BC Conservatives:
BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad (leader of the fourth party) said that Indigenous reconciliation “needs to be more than words and more than actions”. He says it requires “a broad understanding and acceptance of our differences, history and future”. He said that reconciliation needs to be seen as generational change.
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends reports on news of the day through a socioeconomic lens, with an eye to how politics shapes the lives of individuals and households and how it impacts businesses and communities — with the aim to create an archive of both highlights and key points in detail.
Created in mid-2020 by Editor and Publisher Mary P Brooke, Island Social Trends is available at IslandSocialTrends.ca for anyone to read — as part of Ms Brooke’s philosophy that citizen discourse should be available to all.
Mary P Brooke launched Island Social Trends after creating, editing and publishing three print publications on the west shore of south Vancouver Island which are now archived in the Sooke Region Museum permanent collections: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), and West Shore Voice News (2014-2020).
Mary P Brooke was nominated for a Jack Webster Award in 2023 to recognize her contribution to community through journalism. She reports with the BC Legislative Press Gallery.
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