Herold Leelawardena

A Canadian Indian Michael Cachagee did spent 12 years in three different schools from 1944, Associated Press said as he said: “I was beaten. I was put in tubs of hot water. I suffered great pains of hunger. I was force-fed rotten food.” Michael Cachagee added: “The intent was to destroy the Indian.” It is also a known fact that some of the students in residential schools were sexually abused. Such was the cruelty and ill-treatment inflicted on The First Nation of Canada in the so-called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”residential schoolsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lifting children from native Indian families and planting them in residential schools began in the 19th century and continued until the 1970s. At those schools, children were forbidden to use their own languages and they were discouraged from learning about their own cultures. It is obvious that the aim was to “kill the Indian in the child” until “there is not a single American Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed”.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Today, the native population makes up about 4% of the population of CanadaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ though it remains among the poorest.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the then Ceylon, Christian missionaries have done the same in their boarding schools except induction may have been deception and bribe, but the purpose remained the same.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In 1998, the Canadian government issued a general apology for hundred and fifty thousand students that were forcibly taken from their homes for enforced assimilation and destroying their culture.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But mentality of the descendants remains the same as that ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ their ancestors.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So, when the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ made aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ formal apologyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ on June 11^thƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in 2008ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to former students of Indian Residential Schools and sought forgiveness for the studentsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ suffering and for the damaging impact the schools had on Aboriginal culture, heritage and languageƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is indeed a surprise. He did not do so out of love for Indians but becauseƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Australian prime minister at the time, Kevin Rudd, had issued a similar apology to his country’s aborigines taken from their families as part of a similar assimilation programme there.

To see whether apologies make any difference read here what the Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian policy (The White Paper, 1969 but modified in 2010) says; ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Government does not wish to perpetuate policies which carry with them the seeds of disharmony and disunity, policies which prevent Canadians from fulfilling themselves and contributing to their society. It seeks a partnership to achieve a better goal. The partners in this search are the Indian people, the governments of the provinces, the Canadian community as a whole and the Government of Canada. As all partnerships do, this will require consultation, negotiation, give and take, and co-operation if it is to succeed. Many years will be needed. Some efforts may fail, but learning comes from failure and from what is learned success may follow. All the partners have to learn; all will have to change many attitudes.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Aims of the original assimilation efforts by the colonialists were so successful, 200,000 MƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚©tis and 400,000 non-status Indians today have been fighting a 13 year court case to classify them as off-reserve aboriginal people to be entitled to same constitutional rights as “Indians” under the Constitution Act, and fall under federal jurisdiction. So, neo-colonialists of Canada are taking all time and space in the world to settle problems they have deliberately created for the natives of that country in their own way.

Has Canada that accusesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka for not treating Tamils equitablyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ solved its ownƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ problemsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ at least by now? UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya says; he had made a requestƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in February 2012 to visit Canada to investigate the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-human rights situation of Indigenous peoples,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and he is still waiting for a response from Ottawa. According to a letter he sent to the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) onƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ FebruaryƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 20, Anaya has written the federal government at least three times to be permitted to visit Canada.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is not surprising for analysts say, human rights abuses in Canada have increased dramatically during HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s government.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The government is under fire for its violations of the rights of indigenous peoples in Canada.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is a fact that many of CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s natives live in poor conditions with unsafe drinking water, inadequate housing, addiction, and high suicide rates.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This shouldn’t be so in a first world country.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In a report released on December 19, 2012, Amnesty International asked Canada to address human rights abuses in the country, particularly with respect to the rights of indigenous peoples.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Canada is a large country and has no history worth talking about for it was established only in 1867 as a country. So, HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Canada think Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ has Human Rights problems.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Being whites they think, they know how to solve our problems better than us. Being neo-colonialists, they think Sri Lanka also must find solution to race based demands by Tamils like they did to theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Quebec sovereignty movement. They do not appreciate the culture and the mindset of Sinhala people living in a unified country for more than two and half millenniums with a written history of its both sovereigns and invaders since.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ThatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s why at the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting in London,Harper’sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (Canada) Foreign minister, Baird said; prospect of Sri Lanka chair the Commonwealth summit ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-appalling,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ affording Sri Lanka hosting duties is “an accommodation of evil” and treatment of the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Tamil minority as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-soft ethnic cleansing.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Then he lectured his fellow descendants of colonists and their servitude on The Commonwealth fundamental values – freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, good governance – and he said the government in Colombo has failed in all of those respects,” For whatever reason, Australia disagreed with Canada and said boycotting the CHOGM would be counter-productive.

I am sad that our man at the meeting did not say at least a bit of what I wrote above to point out the hypocrisy by successive Canadian governments to their point man there at CMAG.