We are on the eve of Canada Day with this edition, and in the past it has been a time of celebration for our country, yet this year any celebration has to be tempered by what we have collectively faced the past year with COVID-19, and more recently the revelation of unmarked graves at two residential schools.
The COVID pandemic was something unlike most anyone alive today has faced before, and in many ways it shook us to our cores. Our lives were impacted in everything we do from our jobs, to the way we buy our groceries, to what we do for our recreation.
But, we do seem to be on the edge of emerging from the dark times of the pandemic, and for those of us who wore our masks, and followed protocols to keep ourselves and our communities as safe as possible, we can take some pride in nearing the lifting of restrictions as we seem to have COVID under some control.
Sadly, we are finding out Canada is far from 小蓝视频 free of racism, and the road to eliminating it will be far tougher than dealing with COVID-19.
Finding the unmarked graves at a former residential school sight in British Columbia had to shack anyone with a heart for others. It was quite simply a horroriffic discovery.
But, as many worried, it was not something in isolation. There was immediately worries that where one unmarked grave site existed at the former schools -- already a dark spot in this country鈥檚 history with far too many incidents of abuse 鈥� other forgotten and lost gravesites would be discovered.
That the second site was not so far away from our city, with hundreds of graves found, and the horrid story of gravestones removed, leaves one with a twisted feeling of sorrow deep in the gut.
We might like to think, as a country that the situation is in our past, that the racism that lies as a shadow behind the very existence of the schools and the tortures they inflicted on First Nations children, but as we prepare to mark our nation鈥檚 birthday, we need to pause in reflection upon the hatred that still exists in our nation.
Too many First Nations women still go missing without a trace at a rate far higher than with other women.
Too often through COVID were people of Oriental background were attacked for no reason other than racism rearing its ugly head.
Too often are women in hijabs attacked because of racism.
The list of 鈥榯oo manys鈥� is just far too long. We need to do better,
Yes, as we ready to mark Canada Day there is much well should still be proud of in this country, but there is much we need to do better as a nation too, dealing with racism topping that list.
