Canada is an odd paradox. The charter enshrines equality under, and before the law. Meaning, no matter what religion/ gender/ race citizens are guaranteed the right to be equal. Innocent until proven guilty. The other side of this is the Indian Act. It’s legislation that has been in place since 1876, enacted by Prime Minister John A MacDonald. It formed the legal framework for defining who is an First Nations person, advocated for Residential Schools (the last of which was closed in 1996). The legislation has devastated generations of First Nations people, and brought untold damage through poverty, and socio-economic problems such as addiction, and chronic health issues. It institutionalized racism, and it still exists today.

I went to Laurier’s Brantford Campus for my Bachelor’s degree from 2001-2004. Their campus is located in Downtown Brantford, 20 minutes away from Six Nations Reserve. There were a few news stories then about boiling advisories, and I couldn’t believe that a short distance away from where I sat in one of the most generous, progressive countries on earth people would still need to boil water. It was mind-blowing to me, and it still is.

We can almost set our watch by the early rains that flood out northern reserves. The resulting debate over proper housing, or if those reserves should be moved to a larger city. Proper healthcare, education for the children. Addressing the discrepancy in the cost of daily living- things like groceries cost more usually because they need to be flown in. The hand-wringing over what could be causing the rash of teen suicides. There have been a few improvements; the most notable being the closure of the Residential schools in 1996.

There has been an apology from former Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the floor of the House of Commons. A Truth & Reconciliation Commission was struck to collect stories. Current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). He even used the word genocide to describe it. There is legislation on the table to add a passage to the Citizenship Oath to make people aware of First Nations’ history in Canada, but nothing concrete in the way of addressing the core issues identified in the report.

Establishing true equality means abolishing the Indian Act. And that means confronting the ugly truth that racism in Canada exists.