Maybe after the election. Jody Wilson-Raybould can take her own one-person show on the road. At the present, she is attempting the more difficult task of getting elected as an independent candidate in a critical election. If the prime minister’s mother can pull off a one-woman show, why not Wilson-Raybould?
Anyone who can get a four-minute commercial for herself on national television (Global 6:30 Eastern News, September 23) should be able to do it. As a lawyer, she might also figure out what that the book is worth as a campaign donation. And where her book fits in as campaign literature, I am not sure either.
I might get a chance to glance at her book after the election, but right now, I am too busy.
All I can comment on is the title. I do not like the title. It is called From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada. Is this some mythical land where the waters are always clean and the hunting good? And what if there are no indigenous nations in North America to rebuild?
I will admit that I am not as familiar with the west coast tribes as I am with the prairie and eastern aboriginal peoples. Nor would I claim any expertise as to their origins. I believe what the scientists tell us that these peoples migrated to North America from Asia. My ancestors came to this land more recently than those of the aboriginals but I believe we can all be proud to be Canadians. I cannot find the source of the decision someone made to claim Canadian aboriginals come from this land. They do not. Our ancestors were all immigrants at one time or another.
I have too often been appalled at the neglectful way our politicians and government employees deal with the aboriginal communities. We certainly should do better. After the election, I will check and see if Wilson-Raybould’s book has any suggestions.
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Copyright 2019 © Peter Lowry
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