This weekend Ms Soapbox was going to write a breezy little blog saying she was taking the summer off. She was going to wish everyone a safe and pleasant summer and ask them to check back here on September 5, 2021, to resume the battle of trying to stay ahead of the Kenney government’s ill-conceived policies.
Then it happened again. 751 unmarked graves containing the remains of Indigenous children and adults, were discovered on the site of the Marieval Residential School at Cowessess.
These will be added to the 215 unmarked graves discovered at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School and thousands more yet to be discovered.
We should have been prepared for the sheer horror of these discoveries, but we were not.
We ignored and downplayed the stories of the survivors, we refused to acknowledge this part of our history as an act of genocide, and we’ve been complicit with the governments and churches responsible.
We continue to have divisive arguments about statues when we should be joining forces to compel governments and churches to provide the access and funding necessary to locate all the graves so missing and murdered children can be identified and properly honoured.
We need to support Indigenous communities and take meaningful action to eliminate systemic racism, discrimination and injustice. We need to demand the federal and provincial governments act more quickly in implementing the 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, including a papal apology here on Canadian soil.
Yes, I’ll be taking the summer off from the Soapbox. But there is much to do, and we need to do it together.
So be safe. Take care of yourselves. And I’ll see you in the fall.
