As Canadians prepare for the flag waving and fireworks to celebrate our country’s 150th birthday, we must pay attention to the plight of the Indigenous people who have been displaced and ignored since Confederation.
It was sad to see police in Ottawa try to shut down a peaceful protest on Parliament Hill this week because the aboriginal presence in the midst of the Canada 150 celebrations reminded us of an uncomfortable truth: we have failed to respect the culture and the people who lived here long before our ancestors populated what we now call Canada.
History shows us that as Sir John A. Macdonald and the fathers of Confederation negotiated the beginnings of this new country called Canada, the British Parliament and Queen Victoria insisted that the culture of the First Nations of this land be acknowledged and respected.
We seem to have forgotten that pledge.
While many of us celebrate the benefits of being Canadian, either by birth or by choice, we must remember that many Indigenous people in this country long for clean drinking water and proper housing.
We should be proud to be Canadian, but the Aboriginal presence on Parliament Hill reminds us that we cannot be a great nation until we embrace the spirit of the British North America Act and honour and respect the people who inhabited this land long before we did.
Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News.
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