Are we more divided than ever as a country?

Politics has caused some serious rifts from coast to coast to coast. The SA国际影视传媒渓eftSA国际影视传媒� and the SA国际影视传媒渞ightSA国际影视传媒� seems to enter into all sorts of arguments these days.

LetSA国际影视传媒檚 take a litmus test: the carbon tax. Does reading those words make your blood boil because itSA国际影视传媒檚 a government scheme to soak up more of taxpayersSA国际影视传媒� money, or do you feel hopeful that an increasingly stiff carbon tax will make a dent in carbon dioxide levels and thereby benefit the climate?

Another? The response to Covid-19.

More examples? The Toronto Maple Leafs and Justin Bieber.

Those last two were meant to bring some levity.

Back to the pandemic, it shut down much of our Canada Day celebrations over the past two years, so itSA国际影视传媒檚 going to be extra special to indulge in festivities later this week.

There are many reasons to rejoice. Our standard of living remains among the highest in the world. Our healthcare system is flawed, but at least it doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 cost us our life savings when we are afflicted with serious illness, as happens in the United States. When not bickering over politics, Canadians are generally friendly people who enjoy wide-ranging freedoms. The landscapes vary greatly across the thousands of kilometres of tundra, the plains, the lowlands, the prairies and the Pacific mountains, and many of those vistas are breathtaking.

And yet Canada is still coming to terms with elements of its shameful past.

In the words of Georges Erasmus, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and co-chair of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, in a 1990 speech to the Empire Club of Canada:

SA国际影视传媒淔or nearly 100 years SA国际影视传媒� from 1867 until 1960 SA国际影视传媒� we would be so limited in our activity that we would need passes to get off reserves. We couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 own businesses. We couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 run for office. We couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 vote. We never reached the age of majority. We werenSA国际影视传媒檛 human beings really.SA国际影视传媒�

The remedy, Erasmus advocated, was self-governance.

SA国际影视传媒淲e want to make our own lawsSA国际影视传媒� as collectives, as nations, we must have SA国际影视传媒� like Quebec, like Newfoundland SA国际影视传媒� the kind of powers that are typically enjoyed by provinces that are free-standing,SA国际影视传媒� he said at the time.

The first self-government arrangement in the Northwest Territories came in 2005, when the Tlicho Agreement was signed. More followed: in Deline, with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, for the GwichSA国际影视传媒檌n Tribal Council and in the Sahtu.

ThereSA国际影视传媒檚 been a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its 94 calls to action, many of which still need to be implemented since the commissionSA国际影视传媒檚 final report was released in December 2015.

However, as of March 2021, the federal government had provided more than $3 billion to close to 28,000 survivors of residential schools, institutions that caused psychological, spiritual and cultural damage that has lasted for generations.

A Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry recommended 231 calls to justice in June 2019.

We have National Indigenous Peoples Day SA国际影视传媒� a territorial holiday SA国际影视传媒� and Orange Shirt Day.

There are more steps to take, more scars to heal, but a reckoning is taking place.

In the NWT, schools have Elders who come into classrooms and lead field trips, sharing history and cultural perspectives.

ThereSA国际影视传媒檚 much to learn, and learning is easier with an open mind. So, on Canada Day 2022, letSA国际影视传媒檚 celebrate our commitment to unity as we recognize diversity, and know that we can do better.