In a strange way, it’s fortuitous that Canada Day 2021 was already going to be a somewhat muted celebration, thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The big public events that usually happen here in Halifax every July 1 were already cancelled.
And, coming from Newfoundland - where July 1 is not just my country’s National Day, but also the anniversary of the decimation of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont Hamel - my feelings about the holiday have always been a little bit tempered, anyway.
But the ongoing revelations about unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools for First Nations children, including the discovery of one such gravesite in British Columbia yesterday, haven’t really put Canadians in a celebratory mood, anyway:
There has been another discovery of human remains in unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in B.C.
The Lower Kootenay Band confirmed Wednesday that ground-penetrating radar revealed 182 human remains in unmarked graves at the site of the old St. Eugene’s Mission Residential School in Cranbrook, B.C.
[…]
All children living in the area between the ages of seven and 15 were mandated by law to attend the school where the band said many “received cruel and sometimes fatal treatment.” It estimates that about 100 Lower Kootenay Band members attended St. Eugene’s Mission Residential School.
According to the Ktunaxa Nation, the residential school operated for 60 years between 1910 and 1970 but a school first opened on the site in 1890. Thousands of children attended the school.
The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre say there were recurring outbreaks of influenza, mumps, measles, chicken pox, and tuberculosis at the school.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports the Canadian government was responsible for funding the school, which was managed and operated by the Catholic Church from 1890 to 1970.
We Canadians to think of ourselves as tolerant, progressive, open-minded people, dedicated to equal rights and fair treatment for all people. The latest news is a sobering reminder of just how idealised and whitewashed our nation’s history really is.
So, I agree that celebrations today should more muted than usual. But I’m certainly not on board with this kind of self-flagellation:
(Kwong writes for The Toronto Star, long a bastion of vaguely left-wing Canadian nationalism of the “thank God we’re not American” sort. Yes, the same paper that once accused the Tories of trying to destroy Canada through free trade with the United States is now lamenting that Canada hasn’t been destroyed. Funny old world.)
And - this is actually a somewhat controversial statement in 2021 - I am certainly not on board with setting churches on fire. Yes, the Vatican must be held accountable for its role in the residential school system. A Papal apology is just the start. But history suggests that people who burn religious buildings don’t take long before they move on to burning the people who worship there.
Canada must come to terms with its past and do right by its original inhabitants. But the country is not going anywhere. Canada isfor some of us the only home we have ever known, and for others a place of refuge we chose. It is not being dis-established, no matter how many times #CancelCanada is tweeted.
Rupa Subramanya, in the Ottawa Citizen, looks at things from a grateful immigrant’s perspective:
For those of us who chose Canada, and didn’t have the privilege of being born in one of the wealthiest, most advanced countries in the world, the notion of cancelling Canada Day seems truly bizarre. Many of us came from countries where racism and discrimination not only exist, but are often widespread, sanctioned by the state, and are realities of everyday life. Ask a non-Muslim living in the Arab world, where discrimination is baked into the system; or a Muslim in India, where, despite theoretical equality under the law, bigotry is pervasive, with the government often looking the other way. We need to consider Canada in the context of the real world, not compare it to a utopian ideal that has never existed and probably never will.
As our southern neighbours debate their own history with slavery and persistent discrimination against African-Americans - not to mention its own Native population - the nature of America’s founding is a regular point of dispute. Some insist that the country’s founding ideals of liberty and freedom were never anything more than a smokescreen for white male hegemony; others argue that these ideals should be perfected by being extended to all Americans, regardless of race.
I believe we have to treat our own Canadian values the same way, and make sure we actually live up to them. That should be the real lesson for this solemn Canada Day.
Well, she’s happy, at least:
As for the rest of us, well, it’s no accident that the word “technicality” was getting a workout on social media Wednesday afternoon. Same thing with the phrase “flawed justice system.”
I agree that the justice system is flawed, especially in Bill Cosby’s case, but not for the same reason.
The “technicality” that sprung Cosby from jail was actually some pretty serious misconduct by prosecutors:
The court’s majority found that a state prosecutor, Bruce Castor, made a deal with Cosby’s attorneys in 2005 not to bring criminal charges after concluding he could not win a conviction.
As a result, Cosby was unable to avoid testifying as part of a civil lawsuit that Constand brought against him, since defendants can only refuse to testify when faced with criminal prosecution.
In a sworn deposition, Cosby acknowledged giving women sedatives to facilitate sexual encounters, though he maintained they were consensual. He eventually paid Constand a multimillion-dollar settlement.
His admission, which a judge later unsealed in 2015, helped form the basis for criminal charges later that year. Steele, who had just defeated Castor in the election for district attorney in part by criticizing him for failing to prosecute Cosby, charged Cosby days before the statute of limitations was set to expire.
Steele’s prosecution, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found, essentially amounted to reneging on Castor’s earlier promise not to charge Cosby, violating his due process rights.
“There is only one remedy that can completely restore Cosby to the status quo ante,” Justice David Wecht wrote for a four-judge majority. “He must be discharged, and any future prosecution on these particular charges must be barred.”
The punch line:
Castor made national headlines in February as a member of former President Donald Trump’s legal defense team during Trump’s impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. The former prosecutor delivered a rambling opening statement that was widely panned by senators, including Republicans.
I grew up watching Bill Cosby on TV and looking up to him, and I feel betrayed by what he was doing when the cameras were turned off. Needless to say, that’s nothing compared to what his victims - and those of other sexual predators - are feeling today.
Anger is justified, but it should be directed at the prosecutors who tried to pull a fast one on Cosby, not on the judges who called them out on it. If they did this to someone as rich, famous and beloved as Bill Cosby, imagine what they’re doing to everyone else.
I feel like this captures the essence of social media perfectly: