Sol Mamakwa. Screenshot
The MPP for Kiiwetinoong says many Canadians are now finally waking up to the horrific price that was paid to establish this country.
Sol Mamakwa says he won’t be celebrating Canada Day Thursday and is urging others to do the same.
“This year, Canada Day should be nothing more than a day of reflection. Not a day of picnics and parties. I will not celebrate the birth of a nation that destroyed our children.”
Mamakwa adds, “Instead I will continue to mourn for our lost children and dig deep to find the strength to help build a path toward a better future. For all of us this is a good time to reflect on the dark roots of Canada and commit to doing better now and into the future.”
He says the truth of residential schools is before our eyes and we can no longer look away.
Mamakwa says the privileges non-Indigenous Canadians enjoy today were paid for, “in our blood and the blood of our children.”
To hear the full statement post by Sol Mamakwa on social media, visit the Audio link below:
Sol Mamakwa and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath also released a joint statement on curriculum planning in Ontario:
“The history of Indigenous Nations, treaties, residential schools and genocide must absolutely be taught in Ontario schools, in a culturally appropriate, sensitive way.
In 2018, Doug Ford chose not to respect Indigenous history and Indigenous people. He cancelled the Indigenous curriculum-writing sessions and uninvited the Indigenous educators, knowledge keepers and residential school survivors that were prepared to the do the difficult work of curriculum-writing.
His cancellation in 2018 contravened the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action 62 and 63.
Together, we’re calling on the Ford government to apologize for that choice, and to immediately reconvene the educators, knowledge-keepers and residential school survivors in a transparent way to finally begin work on curriculum-writing.
That’s certainly not what we got from Education Minister Stephen Lecce on Tuesday. By pretending the Ford government had done nothing wrong, Lecce only compounded the pain and damage his government caused with the choice to cut.”
