Truth and Reconciliation
Truth and Reconciliation
What we miss south of Bloor
Part of what motivated me to start this little project is that while Canada is a vast country with widely divergent regional cultures and socioeconomic realities, decisions that set the course for the entire country are often made south of Bloor. I worry that this means that people calling the shots don’t necessarily understand realities of people outside of the Toronto and Ottawa bubbles.
For instance, the realities facing Indigenous Peoples. It’s worth taking time to reflect on this as we commemorate Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Toronto is a global city. Diversity is truly one of its strengths. Take a walk down College Street. Little Italy isn’t just a historically Italian neighbourhood. It’s filled with Italian restaurants, often staffed by new Canadians recently arrived from the Mediterranean. Or head down Spadina, through Chinatown where you’ll see shops and restaurants run by multiple generations of Chinese Canadians. Or, if you’re an adventurous type, willing to cross the mighty Don River, you can find Gerrard India Bazaar (which is just south of Greektown). We’re surrounded by cultures from every corner of the world, and we’re better for it.
Visibility means relevance. When you’re familiar with a community, there’s a good chance you understand some of the issues they face. Maybe you’ve heard about some of the agricultural disputes in India facing the families of many new Canadians. Or maybe you’ve spent some time around Church Street and have some understanding of issues facing the 2SLGBTQ+ community. It’s harder to ignore an issue when you can put a face to it.
One group that isn’t particularly visible in Toronto: Indigenous Peoples. Part of it is that Indigenous communities are themselves very diverse. First Nations people are very different than Inuit, who are much different from the Métis People. Part of it is size. Indigenous Peoples’ make up less than one percent of the population of Toronto. Finally, there’s language. We’re used to hearing a number of different languages on the street in Toronto. Your odds of hearing one of the dozens of Indigenous languages spoken on the street are effectively zero, since there are only a few hundred Indigenous languages speakers living on Treaty 13 territory today.
It’s easy to forget we’re on historically Indigenous lands. We’ve all heard land acknowledgements. We might even recall from those acknowledgments that we’re on the traditional lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, and the Haudenosaunee. But given the lack of visibility of Indigenous Peoples, I’m not sure people really internalize the message. It seems like ancient history.
That’s not the case outside of Toronto. Indigenous Peoples make up around ten percent of the population of Winnipeg, Regina, Thunder Bay, North Bay, and Greater Sudbury, among other places. If you live anywhere northwest of Toronto there’s a much better chance that you know someone who is Indigenous. You’re probably slightly more aware of both historic and current issues facing Indigenous Peoples. Visibility means relevance.
My point here isn’t to chastise people south of Bloor. But Indigenous issues aren’t necessarily top of mind when you’re sitting in Commerce Court. That’s why days like Orange Shirt Day are so important. It’s an opportunity to learn and reflect.
We need to be humble when contributing towards decisions that affect communities we don’t understand. We don’t have all the answers here on Treaty 13 territory. We can’t make meaningful progress towards Reconciliation without doing more listening and incorporating wisdom from across the country, including from the original Peoples of this land.