Aug
12
This is a brief and very interesting interview with K’Naan, a hip-hop protest artist from Somalia now based in Canada. His music speaks to the struggle people face living in his home country, and the government and warlords that prevent peace and prosperity. In this interview he talks about the origins of Somalian pirates from an angle that no other media source has addressed… watch on.
Aug
8
Do you want a new stadium in your backyard? How about a landfill or a nuclear power plant? I know what you’re thinking – who on earth would want to live with the noise, smell, or danger? I wouldn’t!
There’s a new buzz word that I really dig that’s being used to describe this conundrum – eco-discrimination. The hot topics of the day, such as the unanimous (albeit grudgingly) support in the Saskatchewan Legislature of nuclear power, or the equally hot debate surrounding Regina’s new stadium, often neglect that massive amounts of discrimination go into decisions like these. Especially when it comes to location – and the consequences are grave. Read more »
Jul
1
The Indian Act specifies that if a person with status earns income on a reserve, his/her income is not taxable. This means that aboriginal people can technically get paid less and still take home the same amount as a comparable worker off reserve. Despite this powerful competitive advantage, in 2007, the Aboriginal employment rate was only 66.4% in Saskatchewan. This compares to 88.3% for non-Aboriginal people. This 19.9% difference represents the largest employment gap in all of Canada.
With stats like this, is it any wonder that one in four Aboriginal children live in poverty? Read more »
Jun
30
What does Canada Day mean to you? Is it simply a day off… kind of like ‘today’s reason to drink’? In the briefest of terms, to me July 1st is a day of pride and reflection.
It’s a day of pride! No matter what you take away from this brief post, know that I love Canada passionately – for this is true. We have so much beauty, so much prosperity as a whole. Don’t think that I didn’t toast my country with a pint tonight… I did! I’m one of the luckiest people of in the world because I get to wake up in Canada; and I’m certainly very privileged.
However, July 1st is also a day of reflection. Canada has a repugnant, violent, and often invisible history. Canada was not founded by noble pioneers that lived off the land in the face of all odds. Nor was it a mosaic of culture or a project of multiculturalism that succeeded. Canada was founded on the violent misappropriation of Indigenous land. It was founded on the backs of those people that still experience marginalization and poverty to this day.
Do I toast my country on the eve of its birthday? Sure. Do I remember that I only have as much privilege as I do because of colonialism, both historic and contemporary? You better believe it.
Jun
25
More than half of First Nations people are not employed.
Jun
24
First Nations people suffer from Third World diseases such as tuberculosis at eight to 10 times the rate of Canadians in general.
Jun
22
Why are there so many barriers to justice? Of course there are several definitions of justice, with different meaning for different people even. The question I have is why justice is so often difficult to seek.
I would argue that our legal system is designed to serve certain people and not others. Take the most basic of facts – if you are going to enter into a court case, you need time and you need money. Competent lawyers cost a lot of money; hell even incompetent lawyers cost a lot of money! Planning a court case and then going to court takes an incomprehensible amount of time – most of which is spent being apprehensive and stressed out. Most people simply can’t afford the time and money it takes to see a court case through – which can take years.
The very succinct point that I’m trying to make is that when rights are violated, some people have more recourse than others do. The impoverished are only one of those demographics that feel the intolerable sting of injustice. It leads to less dignity and recognition of the inherent humanity in the person/people to which the infamous scales of the law do not tilt toward. It’s just a thought… ; D
Jun
21
Recent Census data shows that 23 per cent of Aboriginal people live in houses in need of major repairs, compared to just 7 per cent of the non-Aboriginal population.
Jun
20
Jun
19