July 1, 2017

"Today, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation. We come together as Canadians..."

"... to celebrate the achievements of our great country, reflect on our past and present, and look boldly toward our future," says Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada.
At the heart of Canada’s story are millions of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They exemplify what it means to be Canadian: ambitious aspirations, leadership driven by compassion, and the courage to dream boldly....

As we mark Canada 150, we also recognize that for many, today is not an occasion for celebration. Indigenous Peoples in this country have faced oppression for centuries. As a society, we must acknowledge and apologize for past wrongs, and chart a path forward for the next 150 years – one in which we continue to build our nation-to-nation, Inuit-Crown, and government-to-government relationship with the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation....

66 comments:

Big Mike said...

Almost reads like a parody.

n.n said...

So have native Canadians (i.e. citizens). Perhaps Trudeau should reject the Pro-Choice solutions and pursue reconciliation of moral, natural, and personal imperatives.

Anyway, this isn't South Africa. This isn't Libya. It's not even Serbia. He won't be able to mass abort or disenfranchise the native population to establish a progressive state. Also, Canadians are unlikely to accept institutional [class] diversity (e.g. constitutional and institutional racism, sexism, congruence).

The reason why the various native tribes and nations lost is because too many were genocidal, imperial, redistributive, and retributive. Hopefully, the Canadians have learned from history and will pursue reconciliation and a conservation of principles.

Seeing Red said...

Yup. Centuries lololol.

sunsong said...

Best wishes to all Canadians!

tcrosse said...

And a shout-out to Uncle Raul.

rhhardin said...

Nothing about beaver.

Fen said...

Didn't they just criminalize use of the wrong pronoun?

My phone has gone full SJW. The AI is now giving me multiple choice for spellcheck...

A) phon
B) fone
C) pho ne

B looks about righf. Sigh.

Ambrose said...

To our indigenous friends - Sorry, eh?

Quayle said...

Greetings (by chance) from Kingston, Ontario on our way to Quebec. I say by chance because we were unaware today was Canada day until we got stuck for 3 additional hours in the traffic leaving east out of Toronto.

Lots of red CANADA shirts at the hotel restaurant at breakfast.

I have concluded that there are three kinds of oppression in life. The one we always talk about is oppression one person or peoples against others. We all in some form are oppressed by others and in one way or another we oppress them. Western colonizers oppressed the native peoples. Etc. We fixate on this in our political dialogue.

But two other forms of oppression also exist. One is the oppression of things that just happen in life. Everyone gets a snoot full of difficult experiences and conditions. The very worst form of oppression is the oppression from our own poor decisions- the residicual effects of things we each could have done differently but didn't. We never mostly talk about these.

Fernandinande said...

Indigenous Peoples

Betcha can't say "Eskimos" nowadays.

Seeing Red said...
Yup. Centuries lololol.


They had to oppress each other before the Great White Fathers accepted that burden.

Canadian Navy

rhhardin said...

Don't forget national pronoun day.

tcrosse said...

Betcha can't say "Eskimos" nowadays.

It's Esquimaux.

rhhardin said...

Canadian tradition had indigenous peoples but no cowbogenous peoples.

madAsHell said...

At the heart of Canada’s story are millions of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
"You didn't build this..."

As a society, we must acknowledge and apologize for past wrongs, and chart a path forward for the next 150 years
"But this is not who we are..."

What a putz!!

Fernandinande said...

Let us not forget that the Indigenous Peoples Inuit-Crown First Nations Inuit Métis Nation Love Call saved the all humanity from...THE MARTIANS!

Gordon Scott said...

Geez, Justin Trudeau IS the parody.

Real American said...

Celebration by apology. Leftists sure know how to have a good time.

Sebastian said...

Hey, Justin, whaddaya mean, "indigenous"? You are not referring to a bunch of people who just migrated to North America a bit earlier than others, are you?

David Begley said...

Not a word about hockey. Inadequate.

Snark said...

Be careful what you say. You can all apparently be sniped one by one.

Quayle said...

I always smile when avowed atheist, science-elevating Darwinists decry some historical event when the strong wrongly overpowered the weak.

It's almost as if they don't really believe Darwininian science or in the cruel moral neutrality of the universe.

Bill said...

I liked Canada better when it was all about maple syrup and hockey and politeness - not this diversity-and-inclusion bullshit.

traditionalguy said...

The date 150 years ago marks when the British Empire finally pulled out its Army and left the Canadian part of North America and told them to govern themselves. They were not enough Canadians to make them worth keeping. The Britsish Army had only been lurking in Canada as a base from which to invade the prize called the Umited States. After 1864s US election, the North was united and emerged as the strongest military power on earth.

And , there was no remaining hope of the British Empire picking back up control overn their stolen Dominion here anymore. Andrew Jackson had finally won it.

Big Mike said...

@Fernandinande & tcrosse, it's "Inuit." Do try to keep up, please.

Tank said...

Tank and a NA were waiting in line for the Men's Room in a MT gas station yesterday for a long time. The NA finally turned to me and said, " rest room not mean bring blanket and pillow." This really happened. The funniest thing in a long time. He and Tank laughed and laughed. Then he told me all about the area in perfect English.

LYNNDH said...

Last year a friend and I did a tour of WWI battlefields. We visited the memorial to the Canadian troops who fought and died in the trenches. Canadian became unified in the trenches of that terrible war. Much like THE United States actually became more unified after the Civil War.

Fernandinande said...

Quayle said...
I always smile when avowed atheist, science-elevating Darwinists decry some historical event when the strong wrongly overpowered the weak.


Who ya tawkin about?

Trudeau is Catholic. You also don't seem to understand the basic relationship between science and philosophy.

Jay Vogt said...

Pretty words indeed.

But until Trudeau rips the Canadian Pacific Railroad out by its roots, it's just words. The CPR was a lethal injection to the indigenous people of Assiniboine and their brother and sisters.

Resist.

wildswan said...

The French-Canadians, the group to which Justin Trudeau's family belongs, experienced major discrimination at the hands of English Canadians from 1704 to the election of Justin Trudeau father in 1968. One reason was that the French Canadians were Catholics in a country dominated by strong Protestants. Another was that intermarriage with Hurons, Mohawks and others which was common among French Canadians in the early days led to them being considered a "mixed" race. At one point the French Canadian Louis Riel tried to establish the Metis or Mixed nation out in Manitoba in 1885. These were descended from the Menomonees and other tribes and from French-Canadians.

What it boils down to is that Canadians aren't Americans and when you overwrite Canadian history with categories appropriated from the American or British experience you are a cultural oppressor. It's probably required that a globalist does not know his own country's history and hates its people. But there's a through the looking glass quality when Canada's history which in so many ways is the reverse of American is disregarded by its leader who offers apologies which suggest that Canadian history was the same as American - and this is done in the name of not disregarding history and experiences different from the Authorized Version of history and experience.

Right?

Matt said...

Lucky Canadians! One of the things I miss most about the Obama years is being lectured on how much we suck. I could move to Canada but not being native I'd know ol' Rainbow Sox Trudeau wasn't really talking about me. Guess I'll just have to wait for President Kamala or President Fauxcohontas or President Booker or, well, any Dem president really. Fingers crossed!

Fen said...

Liberals: We are so ashamed of ourselves for invading your home and taking over your kitchen table. Oh woe unto our selfish patriarchal colonialist oppression! We can never make ammends for our horrible appropriation of -

Fen: You could just leave

Liberals: wha- are you nuts?

Quaestor said...

If Trudeau Junior didn't exist Moranis and Thomas would have had to invent him.

The Godfather said...

If you find that it's tiresome to keep saying "Indigenous Peoples", you can use the short-hand version: "Injuns".

mockturtle said...

Gordon says: Geez, Justin Trudeau IS the parody.

Dang, beat me to it!

tcrosse said...

If you find that it's tiresome to keep saying "Indigenous Peoples", you can use the short-hand version: "Injuns".

Les peaux-rouges, SVP.


mockturtle said...

Hey, what happened to all those CELEBRITIES who were supposed to move to Canada if Trump won? Did even one celebrity do it? We should have forced them to sign a contract agreement.

MayBee said...

The thing about having to apologize for the past is that there is never a time you can stop apologizing. The past never goes away.

mockturtle said...

tcrosse quips: It's Esquimaux.

:-D

mockturtle said...

Quayle observes: I always smile when avowed atheist, science-elevating Darwinists decry some historical event when the strong wrongly overpowered the weak.

It's almost as if they don't really believe Darwininian science or in the cruel moral neutrality of the universe.


I've noted that disconnect, too. Why doesn't someone call them out on it?

tcrosse said...

Hey, what happened to all those CELEBRITIES who were supposed to move to Canada if Trump won? Did even one celebrity do it?

They might have been surprised to find how difficult Canadian Immigration can be.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

mockturtle said...

Hey, what happened to all those CELEBRITIES who were supposed to move to Canada if Trump won? Did even one celebrity do it? We should have forced them to sign a contract agreement.

They couldn't get past the rush of Canadian celebs moving south! Heard Mike Myers on NPR yesterday. He's written a book on how wonderful Canada and Canadian's are. Of course, nothing was said about him having lived predominately in California for the past twenty years.

mockturtle said...

tcrosse suggests: They might have been surprised to find how difficult Canadian Immigration can be.

But, but, but...these are CELEBRITIES! Who would not want these beautiful, brilliant, social-justice-oriented treasures in their midst?

Fernandinande said...

mockturtle said...
"It's almost as if they don't really believe Darwininian science or in the cruel moral neutrality of the universe."

I've noted that disconnect, too. Why doesn't someone call them out on it?


What disconnect? Just because the universe is amoral doesn't mean people should be so.

Trudeau the Catholic's concern about Indians - it's almost as if Catholics don't really believe in an afterlife.

Fernandinande said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sprx said...

When will the Indigenous Peoples be held to account for the the North American megafauna?

Fernandinande said...

tcrosse said...
It's Esquimaux.

I first saw that spelling in a Sherlock Holmes story, and since then I've pronounced Eskimo as "Ess-quee-mow".

Quaestor said...

It's Esquimaux.

The only time I've seen that spelling used before was by H.P. Lovecraft in his story The Call of Cthulhu, which refers to the strange doings of "degenerate Esquimaux".

mockturtle said...

Fernandinande asserts: What disconnect? Just because the universe is amoral doesn't mean people should be so.

Why? What morality exists in true Darwinian behavior?

mockturtle said...

Incidentally, Fernandinande, I took your comments more seriously before you became the 'blue whale'. ;-)

Snark said...

Indigenous groups across Canada have been conspicuously pledging non-participation in the celebrations and in addition have a massive protest teepee erected in Ottawa right in the middle of where the national celebrations are being held. There is likely zero chance Justin Trudeau could have reasonably avoided the broader issues in his remarks.

Quaestor said...

Something I learned long ago was the derivation of eskimo (I refuse to bow to the frogs in this matter). It's a European transliteration of an Algonquin term meaning "eaters of raw meat." The preferred term in Canada is Inuit, which is remarkably stupid since it comes from an Eskimo dialect spoken in Greenland of all places, which simply means people, a sure sign of a culture functioning on a level that doesn't yet include clear notions of identity.

Alaskan Eskimos find the term both inappropriate and essentially unintelligible. They're just fine with Eskimo, thank you very much, and bemused by the whole PC schtick that afflicts their cousins in Canada.

tcrosse said...

My French-Canadian grandfather was a virulent anti-Semite. My Scots-Irish-Canadian grandfather was vehemently anti-Catholic. Diversity is our strength.

rcocean said...

"The French-Canadians, the group to which Justin Trudeau's family belongs, experienced major discrimination at the hands of English Canadians from 1704 to the election of Justin Trudeau father in 1968."

I doubt that. More likely, like the Irish, the French Canadians have been whining about being minor/non-existent "oppression" ever since 1704.

Anyway, Quebec should be given its independence. In fact, if I lived in Canada, I'd vote them out. The best thing that ever happened to England was getting rid of the Irish.

Bill Owens said...

Canada. What's it all aboot?

tcrosse said...

Canada. What's it all aboot?


People stand on guard for it.

rcocean said...

Canada should really be 4 countries - Quebec, Maritime Provinces, Ontario, and the rest of the country.

People in Western Canada really blew when Quebec wanted their Independence. They should have supported it, and then formed their own country - the prairie provinces, BC, and Alberta.

Now, THAT would be a great country to live in.

Clyde said...

Big Mike said...
@Fernandinande & tcrosse, it's "Inuit." Do try to keep up, please.


Tell it to my package of Eskimo Pies.

Big Mike said...

@rcocean, what do you plan to do with the Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut?

Big Mike said...

Anyway, Quebec should be given its independence. In fact, if I lived in Canada, I'd vote them out. The best thing that ever happened to England was getting rid of the Irish.

Maybe we can throw in Vermont to sweeten the deal.

Quayle said...

You also don't seem to understand the basic relationship between science and philosophy.

I'll have to tell my history and philosophy of science professors with whom I did three years of guided study, that they are ignorant fools, if I can get a hold of them .

kentuckyliz said...

Eskimo Pies are made of raw meat.

The PC term is Inuit Pies.

Inuit Pies are made of people.

rcocean said...

"What do you plan to do with the Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut?"

I'd put them up for bid.

rcocean said...

"Maybe we can throw in Vermont to sweeten the deal."

I'd throw in ALL of New England.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

" But until Trudeau rips the Canadian Pacific Railroad out by its roots, it's just words. The CPR was a lethal injection to the indigenous people of Assiniboine and their brother and sisters."

Well, yeah, but what's done is done. Which is the real point of Trudeau's mea culpa. He could have just said "hard cheese" for all the difference it would make, but I don't blame him for mouthing the requisite empty apology. Dumbshow is inseparable from any level of modern politics, especially for white liberals.

Bilwick said...

The celebration, however, was marred by all those Hollywood and Broadway show-biz folk who poured into Canada by the millions in order to protest Trump's election.

Mountain Maven said...

Canada's white 0bama