Column: How to miss reconciliation

by time news

“No good deed will go unpunished. The ghost of Oscar Wilde must have been chuckling hard, these days, observing the off-beat waltz between white and native leaders of Quebec and Canada.

Not because of the blundering contest that unfolded on the day of reconciliation: Trudeau-en-vacances, Legault-le-productiviste and Coderre-remettons-Macdonald-sur-pedestal. Competition followed by a second, with the same participants: that of contrition. I’ll let you choose the winner.

On the subject, rather, of the bad fate reserved for the proposals for reconciliation. For the first anniversary of the death of Joyce Echaquan, Minister Ian Lafrenière had decided to respond positively to a “clear request from the family”: give the name of Mr.me Echaquan to a new biodiversity reserve at Lake Némiscachingue, in the Hautes-Laurentides. The minister had, he said, received a letter asking him to proceed quickly. The Council of the Atikamekw Nation bluntly accused him of “political recuperation”, saying the family had asked for a “cooling off period”.

Lafrenière is now wondering who he should ask for permission before acting, and how often. He thought he was doing the right thing by urgently introducing into an existing bill (on pharmacists) an article ordering the Ministry of Justice to accompany native parents who seek to inquire about the death of a child in the health system. He was strongly rebuked by Ghislain Picard of the Assembly of First Nations, who was “taken by surprise” and wanted a separate bill. Lafrenière would also like to introduce the principle of cultural security into the law on health, as requested by the PQ, but he cannot find with the native chiefs a formula that would create a consensus and doubt he will be able to do so before the end of the year.

The episode concerning Québec solidaire is even more entertaining. Having denounced Lafrenière’s eagerness in previous episodes, the solidarity co-spokespersons believed they could do better. They consulted their own indigenous activists to develop a specific bill to protect indigenous languages. They had the neat idea of ​​holding their press conference in an aboriginal bookstore in Wendake, in the suburbs of Quebec, with, of course, the backing of the booksellers. The sky has fallen on their heads. The grand chief of the Huron-Wendat nation, Rémy Vincent, accused them of having held the event on Aboriginal territory without his approval. Above all, he adds, “only communities or nations have the authority to pronounce on our languages ​​and, even more generally, on all of them. [les] questions relating to our cultures ”. The accusations of colonialism and cultural appropriation fell on the malotrus Nadeau-Dubois and Massé.

Even white leaders are involved in rebuffing those who dare to make proposals without obtaining the required authorizations. Thus, when, coming back from his flirtation with John A. Macdonald, Denis Coderre proposed to rename Place du Canada (where the statue was), “Place de la Réconciliation”, Valérie Plante considered his proposal “uneasy” and “ paternalistic ”, because he had not submitted it to the natives.

Good wishes? Shut up !

If we were to follow all of these injunctions, we, non-natives, would have to stop proposing avenues of reconciliation. Parties that are preparing their electoral platform for next year are therefore warned: they must not include anything in their platforms without first having obtained the appropriate printers.

Reconciliation is off to a bad start. That the aboriginal nations exercise a maximum of self-determination at home, of course. That consultation be the rule, not the exception, of course. It is also understandable that proposals are badly received, debated, rejected. But dialogue is not a monologue. And by dint of denouncing at the top of our lungs the goodwill proposals of each other, we will only succeed in drying up benevolence at the source.

A counterexample

In this moody concert, we must outline in broad strokes the counter-example given last week by Paul-Émile Ottawa, head of the Atikamekw Council of Manawan. Sitting alongside the new president of the CISSS de Lanaudière, Maryse Poupart, to take stock of the many actions taken since her arrival in May, Ottawa could have sent everything for a walk, because Mr.me Poupart refuses to say the words “systemic racism”.

He chose pragmatism. “People in my community are seeing a difference, a positive change,” he said. “Confidence is being restored. “As proof, he says, Joyce Echaquan’s parents went to the hospital for a medical consultation” whereas a few months ago, it was out of the question for them to set foot in this establishment “.

When Guy Chevrette became Minister responsible for the Aboriginal file, more than 20 years ago, his first instinct, in his meetings with the chiefs, was to say: “Get all the lawyers out. He introduced a results-oriented approach – problem solving, project implementation – that would restore dialogue and pave the way, then, to the peace of the brave.

If we want to achieve reconciliation today, we must remove the lawsuits and semantic debates from the room. Invite proposals, rather than condemn them. Discuss, negotiate, sort out. It is understandable that the bereaved families, the militants, the activists are on edge. But it is up to the leaders to take the paths of diplomacy and benevolence, if we want to one day achieve a new Great Peace.

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