Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The article,  Kamloops councillor, MLA hoping to have more input as BC mulls plan to weaken DRIPA , was shared on the Politics and More in BC and Across Canada Facebook page.  This topic, as will often happen, turned into a discussion about who we are as individuals: Settlers, Immigrants, Canadians, and First Nations. Cormac McCann had thoughts on the topic I believe are worth sharing, and they follow: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   I hear what you’re saying, but I think there’s an important piece of history and present reality that can’t be left out of this conversation. Canada is a relatively new country, but the land itself—and the nations who have lived on it for thousands of years—are not.  For many of us whose families came from Europe, Asia, Africa, or elsewhere, we are settlers on Indigenous land, whether our families arrived generations ago or more recently. I was born here to settler parents and grandparents, and th...

The Office of the BC Auditor General has released their progress audit , on the Ministry of Education’s changes, since the 2015 report on the education of Aboriginal students in the B.C. public school system . In the original 2015 audit, there were gaps found between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in reading, writing and math assessments; in graduation rates; and in how safe they feel in school. These are strong indicators of a  student’s future well-being. The stakes are high for Indigenous students, their families and communities, and the province, because students who graduate from high school have improved life chances in areas such as employment and health. In 2015, twelve recommendations were made to assist the ministry in closing the gaps. In this progress audit, it was found that the gaps have gotten smaller, but are still substantial. In 2015, the graduation rate for Indigenous students was 24% lower than for non-Indigenous stu...

Who are the Metis?   Metis Nation BC describes the historic Metis as: … a distinct people and nation on the plains of western North America during the late 1700’s. As the fur trade expanded westward many of the employees, who were of European origin, found it both necessary and convenient to establish familial relationships with First Nations women. These relationships resulted in children of Mixed Aboriginal ancestry. Although the fur trade companies eventually adopted a policy of discouraging such unions between employees and First Nations, they also had an economic interest in delaying large-scale agricultural settlement, thereby limiting the choice of marriageable women for the fur trader in the North West. As a result, Mixed Aboriginals married other Mixed Aboriginals and they developed a culture that was not European, nor First Nations, but rather a fusion of the two cultures. Historians refer to this fusion as “Ethnogenesis.” As such, it i...