There is a lot of anger in Canada right
now, much of it divided along racial lines. A good deal of the blame for this
rests on government policy that is outdated and blatantly racist.
Several years ago my mother told me a story
that I have never forgotten. She had gone into the local convenience store, to
pick up some bread or milk. In the store were two little girls, about seven or
eight years old and obviously best friends. They were giggling together and counting
their coins, trying to decide what to buy. Eventually they each picked up the
same chocolate bar, and went to the cashier.
The first little girl put her candy on the
counter. The cashier put in the cost, and the tax, and told her the price. She
paid him. The second girl placed her chocolate bar on the counter, and was
charged only the cost, without tax. The first child noticed this, and said
“Hey, how come I had to pay more than she did?” The cashier answered “Because
she’s Indian”.
This didn’t satisfy the girl, who turned to
her best friend for an answer: “How come I have to pay more than you do?” Her
friend shrugged, and said “Because I’m Indian”.
And that is where the anger, and the
division into “us” and “them” begins. One side is bitter because they pay taxes
and do not get the “perks” of the other. The other side is angry because they
don’t have enough of what they need.
Another story, this one from a news outlet.
They were telling, very sympathetically, the plight of an Indian man who had
not had working plumbing for 20 years. He was still waiting for the government
to fix it. At no point did he appear to consider hiring a plumber to pay for
having it fixed himself, nor did the story mention this as an option.
I know that treaties were signed between
the English and the Indians hundreds of years ago. I don’t really care. Times
change for everyone. This is Canada,
and all of us, no matter what race, should have the same rights and the same
responsibilities. We should all pay taxes. There should be no special funds
available to “Aboriginals” only.
I am not asking for, nor do I wish,
cultural assimilation. Canada
has always succeeded as a mixing bowl of many cultures. I am speaking strictly
of equal treatment under the law for all races.
