Last week at a health parliamentary hearing our elected MLA Linda Larson wondered, “How long do you think before the legacy of those residential schools finally burns itself out of the First Nations people?” Followed by, “How many generations is it going to take before the words ‘residential school’ no longer play a part in how people feel?”
These ignorant comments show just how disconnected MLA Larson is from seeing the devastating impact the legacy of residential schools have had on First Nations people and communities. One wonders if this shameless ignorance has blinded her from the most rudimentary processes recently undertaken by the federal government.
That information is available with a few taps on the keyboard. Or, is it that Larson doesn’t care to check these resources out for reasons that will make it hard for her to be so dismissive of a fundamental injustice she is all too familiar with? Had this been white middle class families suffering with such a legacy I doubt Larson will ask the same questions. I don’t see her asking why Jews hold on to the legacy of the Holocaust, do you? Or why women who have been raped suffer the psychological devastation of their experience for a lifetime after?
Imagine if Larson had asked: How long before Jews get over the Holocaust? According to our ignorant MLA, this should happen sooner than later, implying we should all move on as though none of it happened, in other words, get over it!
Forget history and it simply won’t repeat itself is Larson’s mantra, and we should trust her. Troubling that this attitude should come from a woman, an MLA and someone entrusted with responsibilities for First Nations children in the school system.
So, Ms. Larson, I was wondering why is it okay to ask this of First Nations people specifically? To me the answer is quite simple: because you know you can get away with it. You, like Mr. Trump south of the border, know that you speak to a specific constituency who will support you as a “fearless champion of free speech,” standing up against the “political correctness” of the day, while in fact it satiates a racist desire to deny one’s own guilt. This is why you found it unacceptable to apologize; this is why to me you are a coward.
As the MLA for a region with significant First Nations communities who are currently doing so much for the region’s economic development, it is sad to see an elected official display such callous disrespect towards them.
At a time when our federal government is showing leadership in addressing the very same legacy she so easily dismisses, one wonders why Larson hasn’t made an effort to educate herself on this issue. Or has she not heard of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission?
Just in case, Ms. Larsen, you don’t subject us to any more of your ignorance, here is the link to the commission’s sections on the history of residential schools: http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Final%20Reports/Volume_1_History_Part_2_English_Web.pdf
I hope you take time to read the above before you choose to comment again on issues you clearly are ignorant about.
Robert Porter, Oliver
