A Great Decision!

Last week we heard of a young hockey player refusing to wear a team jersey because it has an image of an indigenous warrior featured on it.  I thought the image was very similar to that of an NHL hockey team.  People lined up on both sides of the argument.  A solution had to be found.

Images of warriors appear on many sports teams' uniforms.  They could be Spartan warriors, Roman warriors or in this case Native warriors.  I've always regarded these images as a tribute to the bravery and tenacity of these ancient warriors.  Most, especially the indigenous and Spartan warriors were faced with incredible odds against them as their lands were being invaded by foreign armies, yet they fought on gallantly.  Their bravery has been celebrated for years.

A solution has been found!  The hockey team in question has engaged the help of the Chief of a local First Nation to help them update the image on their jerseys.  Hopefully this process will include an education process which will address the sensitive issues of the image on their jersey.

Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women?

During the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association convention, this past week in Calgary, we were presented with a resolution from the City of Lethbridge during our 'Resolutions Session' which troubled me.  The resolution read:

"Be it resolved that the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association urge the federal government to move forward with a National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada that will improve and fill in the gaps that currently exist within our society and First Nations communities and facilitate better community and coordination within the justice system closing the cases on missing and murdered indigenous women."

Personally, I don't think a National Inquiry will accomplish anything. 

It is true that over 1100 indigenous women have gone missing or have been found murdered since 1980.  It is also true that Alberta has the second highest rate of missing indigenous women in Canada.  But I truly believe that these women have gone missing NOT because they are native, but because of something else!  I don't know what that "something else" is, but I don't think a National Inquiry will find out.

My experience over the past fifty years is that National Inquiries spend copious amounts of money, generate a mountain of general statements and platitudes, but do little else. 

I believe that money (or probably considerably less) would be better spent coordinating law enforcement groups, federal, provincial, reserve, and local to investigate each and every file again to collect data.  In collating this data, those combined police forces have a better chance of finding out what these women have in common besides being native!  Then we'll have a chance to put an end to this national tragedy by attacking the real reasons why these women have been victimized. 

This is a horrible tragedy affecting every Canadian and it requires more than lip service!

By the way, the resolution passed.