In response to Councillor/UCP candidate Morgan Nagel’s letter Aug. 23 regarding the “anti-Canadian” response toward the removal of statues in public spaces, which depict leaders from the past. Nagel suggests erroneously that these “anti-Canadians” need to “open some history books” suggesting that they’re uneducated about Canadian history. Indeed, most people have hence the call for the removal of such depictions of aggressive colonization practices that, according to Chief Justice McLachlin was a "cultural genocide" and “the worst stain on Canada's human-rights record.” The “diplomatic means” Nagel stated that resulted in a railroad, Canada, and ultimately Cochrane were actually far from diplomatic. What MacDonald was good at was using his power and privilege to deeply oppress people that were really just in the way of MacDonald’s ambition. MacDonald’s instrumentation of the Indian Residential School system was but one of the outcomes of the “political thinkers in Europe,” who saw potential in the “wild, wintry land mass.” And let’s also be clear, Indigenous people were here so suffered the most. Other groups of people came to Canada to build the railroad and also experienced segregated and racist policies and suffered. With respect to the discomfort people are feeling regarding the removal of statues, in addition to Victoria, did Nagel phone the Halifax mayor and request the statue of Cornwallis? The claims Nagel makes regarding MacDonald and Indigenous people, let’s look at but one act of legislation MacDonald was responsible for. The Indian Act of 1876 brought all the laws together impacting First Nations people and saw the creation of reserves, took away First Nations names and replaced them with European names, allowed for the expropriation of reserve land for federal/provincial/municipal gains, allowed reserve lands to be leased out by colonizers, did not allow Indigenous people to form political organizations, did not allow First Nations people to receive funds to make legal claims against the government, did not allow the sale of alcohol or ammunition to First Nations, did not allow pool halls to permit First Nations people to enter, did not allow First Nations people to speak their language or practise their traditional ways, did not allow First Nations people to appear in public exhibitions, denied First Nations people the right to vote. The act also gave authority to "Indian Agents" to implement the Pass System which restricted movement on and off reserve, which ultimately resulted in people not being able to access health care, sell their crops, and visit family. The Pass System was formally repealed in the 1950s however, MacDonald’s response at the time to the system, that never went through parliament and the RCMP resisted putting it into action, was that “it is in the highest degree desirable to adopt it.” MacDonald also targeted the Métis people by charging Louis Riel with high treason, based on an old British law dating to the year 1342 which carried the death penalty whereas Canada’s treason law did not. “The great aim of our legislation has been to do away with the tribal system and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with the other inhabitants of the Dominion as speedily as they are fit to change.” – John A Macdonald, 1887 Is this the “practical approach” that Nagel believes MacDonald took? Are these the “successful policies” Nagel is referring to that were “diplomatic means”? “Academically dishonest people” are not pinning the blame on MacDonald nor are they saying that we should be ashamed of Canada, what people that read history books are saying is that we need to acknowledge our past to understand why walking in front of a statue that depicts a man that was instrumental in a cultural genocide causes pain in an era of reconciliation. Canada does not have one of the “most peaceful, fair and just histories in the entirety of human civilization” clearly, and in fact has been condemned by the United Nations for not addressing the needs of Indigenous people. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has urged the federal government of Canada to address the violations of the rights of Indigenous peoples, same as human rights, as outlined by the United Nations resulting in Bill C-262. This is not an “assault on Canadian history,” but an awareness of Canadian history. What does reconciliation mean to Nagel? Teresa A. Fowler
