July 1st — A Reflection, not Celebration.
Today, many people will be celebrating a settler colony responsible for displacement, land theft, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous peoples under its occupation with continued oppression and deep wounds. While many of us enjoy a day off from work or school, it is important to reflect on our roles as settlers within a settler colonial system.
Whether you were born here, a permanent resident, refugee, student/worker/visitor, know that you are welcome and loved by a community that recognizes the stolen territories in which we live, work and play. In escaping colonial oppression, one may find refuge in a ‘diverse’ settler colony, but to celebrate this other settler colony is to normalize that colonial oppression for another group by becoming the oppressor.
Indigenous peoples have experienced the RCMP, a Colonial Occupation Paramilitary, and there are examples of resistance, including the North-West Resistance (1880s), Kanesatake Resistance (Oka Crisis 1990), and Wet’suwet’en Land Defence (2020s) to name a few. We are not taught of Indigenous resistance, let alone the true extent of the colonial violence against Indigenous peoples in our K-12 public schools.
Canada has always taught a version of history in the context where black, brown, and Indigenous peoples are painted as criminals while white settlers are painted either as saviours when inciting violence or as victims when faced with resistance. This is very apparent in the way our country and media frame the occupation and resistance in Palestine today. The idea of reconciliation and diversity has fallen flat while in the hands of liberal populists who favour corporate and capitalist interests behind the façade of diversity, equity and inclusion.