Indigenous Lives Matter

 

Nunavut MP Lori Idlout

There have been far too many deaths of Black men and women in the United States at the hands of police officers. We hear of Blacks shot dead during traffic stops or choked to death or killed in their own homes, sometimes during wellness checks. In most instances they have been unarmed. The death of George Floyd sparked the BlackLivesMatter movement, an uprising of indignation and resistance to the status quo of racism on the part of those who are expected to uphold the law equally. 

It's easy to be both indignant and smug in Canada, even though there is a disproportionate number of deaths for racialized groups in this country as well. 

Since the end of August, roughly a three week period, there have been nine deaths of Indigenous persons with police involvement across Canada. At least two were struck by police vehicles and one young man died during a wellness check. Obviously we don't know the details of these interactions yet the number is alarming enough that an emergency debate was held in the House of Commons on Monday evening. Here is a portion of a CBC report on that debate. Since then three more deaths have been identified

A New Democrat MP urged the House of Commons to put politics aside and find immediate policy solutions on Monday night, as legislators held an emergency debate following six incidents in just two weeks where First Nations people were killed by police.

The first day of the fall parliamentary session saw MPs sit until midnight in Ottawa, where they described the deaths as a tragic reminder of Canada's history of colonialism and systemic racism. 

For Nunavut MP Lori Idlout, who requested the debate, the question was not just whether these problems exist, but what lawmakers intend to do about them. In a letter to the Speaker, Idlout stressed the need to discuss "immediate measures that can be taken to save Indigenous lives, today."

She was the first to take the floor when the discussion began, telling MPs that colonialism and genocidal policies in Canada are not a part of history because they are still happening now."Those genocidal policies and the colonial attitudes we see are systemic. We see them throughout Canada," Idlout said."We see them in the education system, the health system and of course the criminal system. They resulted in the call for this emergency debate."

At the end of this month many Canadians will acknowledge the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, a recognition of the shameful history of Residential Schools. In our congregation, Trenton United, lots of us will wear orange the day before during Sunday worship. The Every Child Matters flag at Trenton UC has been vandalizes several times but it has been replaced and will fly that day. 

I have to wonder whether the House of Commons debate will be another exercise in virtue signalling rather than a step toward change. The ongoing loss of life reminds us that we haven't achieved reconciliation. Creator God, help us get there. 

Trenton United Church