Ingrates all

"It's a stat holiday, so we'll take it, other than that there is no celebration of Canada Day in our communities.  What exactly is there to celebrate?" complained Byron Louis, chief of the Okanagan Indian Band.

Well, the billions given natives by other ordinary Canadians might be something, wouldn't you think Chief Louis?  I think "take" is the operative word in Chief Louis' statement, by the way.  Hey, I'd think the billions are something to be grateful for, that's what I'd think.  But, as I have blogged many times, natives do not identify as "Canadian".  "I can recall a lot of celebrations here, we're a community that loves to come together and celebrate things, but Canada Day is not one I remember bringing the community together," echoed someone called Jess Housty of the Heilstuk people.  She also said she'd like to see greater recognition of what native communities face.  "I don't think we can say everyone in Canada has grappled with the reality of what systemic racism is in this country."

Firstly, we don't have "systemic" racism in Canada.  We have bias and individual racism, but throwing around the word "systemic" is irresponsible.  It has to stop because it has become a great excuse for natives and other people of colour to sit back, relax, demonstrate and play the blame game.   

Chief Louis says the relationship between the Canadian government and native people has eroded, making it difficult to join in the celebration.  But the money hasn't "eroded" has it.  It just keeps growing and growing.

I am so sick of it.

B is an immigrant.  He was six when he was torn from his lavish, ancestral home in India, had all family possessions stolen on the voyage, shuffled off to remote relatives in England until finally landing in Halifax with his grandparents.  After that, he was raised in a small, walk-up apartment in Montreal.  "Son, you are now a Canadian," said his grandfather.  "Forget all about India, The Raj and England.  Just be 'Canadian'", he said, before buying him a pair of hockey skates and enrolling him in a Montreal boxing gym.  Today, no one is more "Canadian" than B.  Yes, he remembers India, his beloved man servant and England, but he is firmly Canadian and that's that.

As I said, I am so sick of it all.

This is what got me going today, from 'The Globe and Mail'.