Why I'm Not Celebrating Canada Day

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to live in this vast and beautiful country that we all love... but I can't say that I'm a proud Canadian. 

When we celebrate Canada Day, we're celebrating: 

Over 150 years of:

• Ongoing systemic genocide towards the Indigenous community
• The continuous (and ongoing) forced sterilization of Indigenous Womxn in Canada
• The trauma of "Indian Residential Schools"
• The continual stealing of Indigenous land
• The lack of access to clean water in Indigenous communities across the country (In Ontario 2 in 5 First Nation communities are under boil water advisories)
• The 1000's of missing and murdered Indigenous Womxn
• Forced erasure of culture and language through assimilation tactics
• More violence and oppression than most of us could possibly comprehend

I cannot celebrate the ongoing colonial violence, Indigenous genocide and land theft. The violence and terrorism at the hands of our RCMP and Canadian Government. How is this even still happening in 2020?!

Canadians are known for being polite and neighbourly. For eating poutine and loving hockey. For being compassionate and caring. For saying "Eh" and apologizing too much. I don't mind being known for that.
I don't want to be known as the Country who looked the other way and didn't hold their Government accountable for this ongoing and disgusting mass injustice that Canada was built upon. 
It's up to all of us to unlearn our Canadian History. To educate ourselves and to do better as Canadians and Human Beings. 
I'm going to share some resources below and hope you'll take a look and begin the unlearning process for yourself.

I truly believe that together we can create massive change. That we can co-create a new world, where we are learning and unlearning, self-healing, evolving, creating new systems and holding our Governments accountable. A world where there is no space for racism, hate and discrimination, a world full of love, kindness and generosity. But we can't just sit around and wish things were different. This is the time to learn, to educate ourselves and our peers, and to take action. 
 

Video: A Perspective on Canadian History that You Might Not Know | The Ballantyne Project

The Ballantyne Project is a Vancouver based organization that focuses on bringing inspiration, a voice and opportunity to remote First Nation communities in Canada. They are currently working on a five-part video series to enhance the indigenous curriculum content for schools across the country.

Sharing from my friend Delia of Madrina Della Terra