Canada Day

July First is a day when people get together to celebrate the great accomplishments of the nation from gaining its independence from Great Britain not through war like the United States did to gain its independence starting in 1775 to 1783. Instead Canada earned its independence through peaceful means without fighting the British Empire through conflict that would have caused great destruction to Canada and its environment.

Canada day has been effectively renamed New Day in Winnipeg, Manitoba's capital, due to complaints that the term Canada is offensive to indigenous groups and other minorities who were harmed by past and present government policies. In addition, the Catholic Church managed the residential school system, which was meant to educate indigenous children, but instead turned into a system of destruction. This resulted in the abuse of most indigenous children taken from their tribes. This should be acknowledged that the past polices of previous governments caused this harm but should not lead to the result or as Bill Maher would say " The title for an Onion News article" if you don't know what Onion News is it a comedic satire on news in the world.

Indigenous people and other minority groups could be blamed for the change of Canada Day's name to New Day, but I believe this issue is much bigger and relates to the way the government deals with issues that are facing these particular groups. It all began with the Federal Liberal government's handling of the discovery of mass graves of indigenous children who were forced, in most cases, to attend awful schools. I would advise the Federal Government to conduct a full investigation into the unmarked graves of deceased indigenous kids. If the graves weren't marked, it might have been because their markers were made from wood, which has decomposed over the years, making it impossible to see in later photographs. Evidence suggests that some indigenous children may have been buried in Catholic cemeteries. As well, I would encourage the Federal government or whoever conducts a proper investigation to carefully examine the remains since there is evidence that disease ran rampant in the schools and would have affected more than just the students. Even though it has been blown up a lot, some indigenous kids allegedly benefited from these schools, and abuse did not necessarily occur in all of them.

Other minority groups frequently mentioned in the news are similarly abused and silenced by previous federal governments, and they now seek justice. The result has been the removal of statues of prominent Canadian figures such as John A McDonald, who set up the groundwork for Canada's independence from British rule, due to his past policies and support of the residential school system as a way to gain justice against a man who has long since passed away. If you study John A McDonald closely you know he was a terrible person when he got drunk, and what has become more evident is his treatment of indigenous people, which led to the establishment of residential schools. Taking down the statues of the man who helped create Canada is not justice since he is dead and doesn't care what happens to them. We should continue to uncover the not so good policies of Canada's first Prime Minister in order to prevent future generations from repeating these policies.

As with any nation, Canada's past and current policies have caused harm to different groups at different times. Germany, for example, did not change its name to something else because it committed horrendous crimes against the Jewish population during the Second World War, putting them in concentration camps and starving them and performing mass executions. Although the symbols and figures of Nazi Germany were taken down, some of the architecture of the nation still exists. If you look at Germany's approach, you can see that it acknowledged that the Nazis introduced this policy of mass extermination and apologized for its role in the execution of the Jews. We should acknowledge that some of Canada's policies have caused harm and that its early leaders were not Nazis but made a huge mistake while also helping create a nation full of many different cultures. This day should celebrate Canada's good deeds and not be changed as it continues to address the concerns of the different groups affected in the past and welcomes immigrants effected by conflict around the world.