Re “Residential school ‘discoveries’: verdict by public opinion,” May 30, by Father Jack Gallagher:
Residential schools and those who ran them cannot be defended based on why they were built and what they were meant to do.
The schools were built to assimilate “Indian people” into the white Euro-Christian way of life and civilize them. The churches’ and government’s purpose was to kill the Indian in the child and resolve the “Indian problem” by getting rid of Indigenous people, as has happened.
The deaths are not the main atrocity, clonality is, and it is still going on. I recommended you read A Knock on the Door by Phil Fontaine, an essential history of residential schools. Another book to read is The Church and the Indigenous People in the Americas by Michael Andraos to learn about Indigenous world view, theology, and spirituality.
Ruth DeWeerdt
Delta
Re Penny Oyama’s June 6 letter to the editor:
Ms. Oyama will always see the “settlers” as the oppressor and Indigenous populations as the oppressed. The reality is far more complicated than that.
Father Gallagher availed himself of facts and verifiable statistics when commenting on the hysteria surrounding the mass graves controversy. Is it supremely defensive to advocate for the principle of innocence until proven guilty? Is this not the cornerstone of our justice system?
Subjugating your enemies through war was a long-standing practice among Native tribes long before the Europeans showed up. Have the Iroquois ever apologized for wiping out the Huron?
How can we expect true reconciliation with only half the truth?
Jack Chambers
Parksville
Father Gallagher’s column on residential schools was excellent and well-informed. It is a fact that the past has robbed the future in terms of enormous monetary claims imposed on this generation. I could never understand why the hierarchy of the Church did not defend the unsubstantiated accusations reported by the media (who are usually biased against Christianity).
Recently there was another TV report that said the children’s “lives were taken,” rather than that “the children died.” It’s a subtle use of language that implies intentional death.
A recent article in The National Post by Terry Glavin also debunked the narrative of mass graves that never were.
Jenny Krizak
Surrey
We have learned in Canada under our very liberal PM Justin Trudeau that accommodating crime is better than fighting it. It also gets you reelected.
Not only he has legalized the death industry in Canada by allowing abortions all over our “unceded” land while constantly self-flagellating at the loss of Aboriginal children in the residential schools (which proved unwise to be crowding children in schools when tuberculosis and other serious contagious diseases were rampant), he has also embraced euthanasia, a great money saver.
He started legalizing marijuana without an iota of concern for the damage it causes. To prove how much he cares for our health, he is planning to pass legislation to decriminalize small amounts for personal use of cocaine and stronger, more addictive drugs. How naive can a person be to think drug addicts are going to stick to smaller doses? Are the police going to monitor it when they can’t control the flow of illegal guns? The number of drug addicts who have died since the pandemic started exceeds those who have died from COVID.
The Prime Minister is more concerned about votes than about causing the death of the innocent.
John Bueno
North Vancouver
Inadequate disability supports make the message clear that the government will help you die, but not live with dignity.
People who rely on disability benefits can no longer afford to live. And with the legalization of medical assistance in dying, some are choosing not to.
We can do better. We must do better. And we need to act now.
Parliament breaks for the summer June 23. Bill C-22, which will create a monthly disability benefit for working-age Canadians, is an encouraging step, but we need to keep the pressure on. We can’t afford further delays, now is the time to take action.
Let’s ensure that Canadians with disabilities living in poverty are not forced to choose between paying bills or applying for the right to die.
Dean Clark
Langley
