Everyone wants ‘action,’ but what does that mean?

The truth is there is no single, sweeping measure any government, or individual, can take that will eliminate the ugliness in our past, or end ongoing discrimination against Indigenous, Muslim, Asian, South Asian, Black, and other racialized Canadians. That doesn’t mean governments shouldn’t try, or haven’t tried, but some days it is hard to find evidence of progress, for all the fine speeches and all the money spent.

People performing a drumming circle, June 3, 2021, on Parliament Hill to honour the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were found last month near the Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia. Meanwhile, the government that resolved to address longstanding injustice towards First Nations—that declared the Indigenous-settler relationship its top priority—is fighting repeated orders from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to end the discrimination against First Nations children who cannot access the same quality health and social services as non-Indigenous kids.The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Opinion

BY SUSAN RILEY

June 14, 2021

CHELSEA, QUE.—The two tragedies of recent days—the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children on the grounds of an old Kamloops residential school and the hate-fuelled murder of a Muslim family in London—has everyone (almost) calling for action, not platitudes. The ch...