Canada Day - The AFNQL Invites Canadians to Give Reconciliation its Full Meaning
WENDAKE, QC, July 1, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - The history of Canada is a history of welcome. It started with the welcoming of Europeans by First Nations who occupied these territories, which are among the most beautiful and richest on the planet. As peoples, our ancestors knew how to help and accommodate each other. Later, other groups were welcomed, other people who saw Canada as a land for their future, and that of their children. It welcomed refugees too, and to this day, people who have had to flee their country for so many good reasons.
In this country, with a history of welcoming people, we must ask ourselves how have we got down to talking about reconciliation with First Nations to describe a relationship that has deteriorated so much that it needs to be rebuilt. What happened? On this Canada Day, the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador invites Canadians to take a pause to answer that question in all honesty.
The territory on which First Nations have welcomed newcomers is rich and generous. It should allow everyone to live here honorably, to lack nothing. But that is not what is happening. Why are so many First Nations people perceived or treated at home as second-class citizens? Why are they discriminated against by the "Canadian system", by its economy, by its police and judicial system? Today, on Canada Day, we ask all Canadians to reflect on this and ask themselves why it is this way.
It is the future of Canada, including that of First Nations, that depends on it. This July 1st, it is rather to Reconciliation, as we see it, that First Nations invite all Canadians.
About the AFNQL
The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador is the political organization regrouping 43 Chiefs of the First Nations in Quebec and Labrador. Follow us on Twitter @APNQL
SOURCE Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador
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