What an annoying way to start the day: After an exceptionally bad night's sleep, to have to get up and actually think out an argument that's not an emotional reaction. It's just not fair. But it serves me right for reading intelligent people with whom I don't agree with when I first get up.
In a story in today's online "Globe and Mail" Jeffrey Simpson presents some strong arguments against offering compensation to groups with past grievances with the government of Canada. As he says, Canada is predominantly populated by the oppressed; people who have fled from other countries, or who have been conquered. Dating back to the initial French colonies, through the British conquest, the head tax on Asian immigrants in late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War Two, there's quite a history of cultural groups who could make a case that they are "owed" by the government.
In a nutshell his argument is that if you provide compensation to a group for past damages, you are fostering a perception that some people are getting preferential treatment. It's that type of perception that leads to resentments and groups dividing themselves along ethnic lines.
Think of the resentment that so many people have towards Quebec or Natives in Canada and you can see the validity of his argument. Mr. Simpson argues that instead of compensating people we need to look at the mistakes in our collective past, learn from them so they won’t happen again, and move on. If we don't it makes that task of building a unified Canada all that much harder.
While I agree with him about the potential for that result, I disagree with the reason. I don't think that it's the compensation of people for past wrongs that's the problem; it is the perceived favouring of one group over another that causes resentment. If you see someone else getting a big healthy check for reasons that aren't clear to you, and you're not getting anything, that's going to piss you off.
Article comments
1 - Cerulean
You're right. Primarily the native peoples and it seems, Japanese Canadians (didn't know about that) and stuff like that. It is only right to address it.
2 - Al Barger
Bad idea entirely. Keep in mind that the money has to come from somewhere. Thus, schmoes trying to make ends meet today that haven't done anything wrong will be ripped off to give money to people because their grandparents got screwed over by somebody else 100 years ago. This looks like plain old looting.
In what way is this any kind of right, and how does this lessen rather than increase ethnic tensions and strife?
3 - Dr. Kurt
Perhaps we could hold governments accountable for misdeeds the same way they hold us accountable? I know that if I steal, or cause harm, I am likely to pay for it eventually. If we are responsible for our government's behavior, then we can't complain too much about paying up; if we aren't responsible, how can we call ourselves Free?
4 - PR
Sorry, but the whole idea of correcting the "wrong" decisions made by previous societies or compensating for actions we NOW view as unfair or evil is wrong and completely misguided.
It's ridiculous to think we shold sit in judgment of actions made during different eras using todays ethics and morals as our yardstick for fairness. This is unfair to the current population.
Land claims are about political correctness and our governments fear of native violence, it's not about equal treatment.
In most cases we're elevating natives to a "superior" position, so claims of a level playing field are a joke. I will NEVER support it and if you think I'm the only one your pretty naive. Unfortunately the PC police have Canadians afraid to voice their opinions.
5 - me, myself and I
I'm the child of a man who went through the internment experience. I want to add that Japanese Canadians weren't just interned, they were kicked out of BC after being released from internment and were officially ordered to disperse, which included not hanging around in groups more than 3 or living near each other. I'll also add that there's a misconception that the people interned were all immigrants - in fact, most were raised in BC or, like my father, were born and raised in BC and had never even been to Japan. Canada was their only country, so you can imagine how betrayed and heartbroken they were. They were forbidden from re-entering the "100 mile zone" on the BC coast right up until 1949. Prime Minister MacKenzie King tried to expatriate everyone to Japan and was partially successful. This is how the community was physically dismantled.
It's not surprising that WWII veterans were angry when Mulroney granted redress to Japanese Canadians but didn't do much to address their past war trauma. It's typical of politicians and parties to treat one group nicely and another group poorly in order to build resentment. It's called divide and conquer and it's how politicians and political parties get and hold power. It's exactly what they did to Japanese Canadians before and during WWII ("vote for me and I'll get rid of the Japs"), and politicians behave no differently now because it's a tried and true method. Look at Africa, the Balkans, and many other historical and global examples, where politicians build resentment by one group (usually along ethnic lines) against another in order to carry out their agenda which is always the same: get and maintain power for the few at the top. When everyone below them is busy fighting with each other, they're too distracted to see that everyone is being screwed over by the people running the show. This also applies to the fear and resentment currently directed at First Nations people. It's a perfect example of divide and conquer. You can be sure a lot of it benefits politicians currently in power, at the expense of the ongoing suffering of native people and that of non-natives who are also struggling to make ends meet. And if you don't believe that native people aren't still suffering, read some history books and note some statistics such as the astronomical rate of suicide among young people, the high infant mortality rate and the ongoing problems with violence and despair on reserves.