Posts with the Indigenous people tag

Barris Beat

Flying emblems for good and evil

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
New flag for a coming Canada Day.

A few weeks after the storm, amid our yard debris, I found the tattered remains of the Canadian flag that had hung over the entrance to our house for a number of years. The state of the cloth – shredded and torn by the fury of the storm – inspired me to buy a new Red Maple Leaf (albeit a smaller one than usual) and hang it outside our home. One of my neighbours noticed that the replacement flag looked a bit different.

“Your other one was a lot bigger,” he pointed out. “Why a smaller Maple Leaf?”

I shrugged and said, “For the moment, that was the only size I could find.” But what I didn’t say to my neighbour at the time was that these days I’m a bit conflicted about displaying national emblems, and in particular the Canadian flag in anything that looks like a grandiose statement. (more…)

Barris Beat

The heart. Not the quick hit.

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

It is arguably the most difficult issue Canadians have had to face since Confederation. It has divided Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada since initial European contact. And it came into sharpest focus this spring when hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children were discovered around several former residential schools.

But when the issue of “Reconciliation with First Nations” was introduced last Thursday night during the Leaders’ Debate – after some introductory remarks from the five leaders, one of them, Justin Trudeau, got this curt instruction from the moderator.

“You have five seconds, Mr. Trudeau,” said Shachi Kurl, the moderator. “Five seconds, sir.”

“We have lots more to do,” Trudeau said. “And we are going to do it.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Power via experience, not gender

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
In 1983, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau faced Indigenous leaders on the issue of equality.

It was 1983. The Canadian Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which had become law the year before, faced an important test. A constitutional conference had assembled then prime minister Pierre Trudeau and Indigenous leaders to debate the incorporation of Indigenous rights. Trudeau seemed frustrated that one Indigenous spokeswoman was not satisfied.

“I wish you and your sisters would take it out of your head that somehow we’re deliberately trying to frustrate the concept of equality,” Trudeau said.

“At least in the law, everybody is assured here that we are not. In a sense, you’re equal when you think you’re equal. And if you think you’re unequal, the law won’t change much.”

The camera swish-panned to a young woman, whose mother was Inuk, and her father was non-Indigenous. (more…)