Programming for youth is an important part of many community organizations’ mandates and structure. The Spence Neighbourhood Association (SNA), a community organization serving the inner-city community of Winnipeg’s Spence neighbourhood, provides a program for female-identified youth called Girls Night.
Race and anti-racism
Photo by Carolyn Cuskey (Flickr Creative Commons)
The spate of recent border crossings, particularly in the small town of Emerson in southern Manitoba, as well as in Quebec over the Summer of 2017, have brought to attention a rather forgotten piece of paper that prevents refugees from seeking safe haven in Canada if entering from the United States.
Illustration by Amy Thompson
The Trudeau government has shone internationally on a progressive message of tolerance, openness, diversity and inclusive, sustainable economic growth. It says it wants to make globalization fair for everyone, and that, as the prime minister tweeted, Canada welcomes all people “fleeing persecution, terror & war.” But on a number of files the government has bent itself into a pretzel trying to square its beliefs with its actions. An underlying theme throughout this issue of the Monitor is the empty gesture.
“I am standing in a place filled with monuments for the early explorers, pioneers, and heroic settlers. I cannot help but think that this memorialization is so one-sided, so monolithic, so homogenous.
There is an important difference between celebration and commemoration. In considering Canada 150, the government tagline for this year’s sesquicentennial festivities, the contributors to this special issue of the Monitor argue too little of what we are seeing can, or is even intended to, lead the country to a fuller understanding of its history. To truly commemorate—whether it is Canada’s Confederation or any other moment—we need to address those things we find distasteful and disappointing, as well as those things that make us proud.
“Bloodvein 3” (2008) by Anishinabe artist Scott Benesiinaabandan.
The trope of the vanishing Indian has been around since Europeans realized Indians existed. In the colonial imagination, then, we began to disappear at the exact moment we were first seen.
Looking for BC Update and BC Commentary? Look no further. We’ve combined the two to create BC Solutions. Through this new publication, we’re pleased to be better able to keep you up-to-date on research, events and other goings-on at the CCPA–BC Office.
In this issue:
Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada is arguably the most important issue Canada faces today. While the urgency may have emerged due to a heightened awareness of the legacies of residential schools via the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), understanding what goes into reconciliation and how this is enacted is not easily discerned.
In light of Media Democracy day on November 19th, the Saskatchewan Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is pleased to release "Decolonizing the Media: Challenges and Obstacles on the Road to Reconciliation" by Dr. Patricia Elliott of the University of Regina School of Journalism.