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Opinion | Is Justin Trudeau a petty clown in Canadian political history?

By Edward Hei Leung, DAB Standing Committee Member

Recently, an indigenous nation in Canada announced its latest discovery of 751 unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in Saskatchewan. On one hand, Canadian politicians, like Justin Trudeau, obsessively accuse China of the so-called inhuman treatment in Xinjiang. On the other hand, their backyard is on fire because of the truly happened cultural genocide in the name of indoctrinating indigenous children into western Christian society.

The crux of the racial discrimination remains unresolved

Nowadays, cultural and racial discriminations are deeply rooted in Canadian populations. Problem remains unresolved, even though Canadian government formally apologized for the system.

Chris Champion, an Alberta UCP curriculum advisor, denied that Kamloops burial site was part of cultural genocide. According to his article in Dorchester Review, natural compassion should not be distorted into a big lie narrative that the country committed genocide or that Canadians are complicit in their own version of the holocaust. Worse still, he strongly emphasized that all photographs taken in Indian residential schools showed children there apparently happy and healthy. Remember that Chris Champion was still an advisor for Alberta's curriculum review in 2020, 12 years after the formal apology from Canadian government to First Nations populations.

Aside from the aforementioned curriculum advisor, CBC, a Canadian media, reported that Nova Scotia Grade 10 English course required students to list the advantages and disadvantages of being placed in a residential school, together with the reasons why poverty and unemployment are common among First Nations populations. Given the hurtful content, Education Minister Derek Mombourquette apologized and insisted that the education material created in 2003, 12 years before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee released its recommendations in 2015, cannot reflect the current curriculum in Nova Scotia. Again, this racial discrimination scandal happens in 2021 that implies its infamous content circulating approximately 13 years after 2008. Is the formal apology of Canadian government effective or not? The answer is crystally clear.

The appalling truth underneath Canadian multi-cultural society

In spite of the fact that Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the newly discovered unmarked graves as horrified and ashamed, his father Pierre Trudeau unarguably ignored the inhuman residential school system during his administration. If Canadian indigenous residential school system was problematic, why did Pierre Trudeau not to abandon this policy? Will Justin Trudeau admit his father's fault? Perhaps the demographic characteristics shed a light on the long-lasting issue.

Canadian government cherishes its multi-cultural, color-blind society. Yet, the dominating white population still rules the unfair game of democracy. According to Canadian national census in 2016, about 72.9% of Canadians were white. That is to say, you can find around one people of color in five Canadians. Maybe there are fewer people who favor white supremacy than I expect in the country. But, given its white population, it is no denying that racism exists everywhere in Canada. In light of this, can Trudeau's family ignore this politically influential factor?

To conclude with, regardless of how western world emphasizes the multicultural values, its indelible shameful history of racial discrimination continues rather than suspends. As an old Chinese saying goes, be strict with yourself and understand others. Thanks to the traditional oriental wisdom, China, led by the communist party, has greatly improved its governances in recent decades. Maybe it is good for Justin Trudeau to learn Chinese wisdoms instead of blaming our country unreasonably.

So far as I know, Trudeau condemned China after a senior official at China's mission to the United Nations in Geneva call for a thorough and impartial investigations to the child abuse cases among indigenous people in Canada. "Where is China's truth and reconciliation commission?" Trudeau asked. Put aside the fact that cultural genocide did not happen in Xinjiang. Does this so-called commission effectively show Canadian determination to rectify the terrible mistake of the past? Or simply a political window dressing to deal with criticisms? In fact, Trudeau knows better than I do.

 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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