Tag Archives: Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Indigenous Nations History

Aaron Gunn, Residential Schools and the Meanings of Genocide

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In a series of tweets between 2019 and 2021, the Conservative candidate for North Island Powell River, Aaron Gunn, argued against the the idea that residential schools were a form of genocide.  In the first of these he agreed that they were ‘truly horrific events,’ but added that people should not refer to them with a loaded word like ‘genocide’ that does not remotely reflect the reality of what happened.” He was wrong, residential schools are a perfect example of genocide.

Mr Gunn’s understanding of the term appears to be limited to ‘killing of a large number of people,’ but when Raphael Lemkin coined the term he stated it wasn’t necessary to kill people. There were also genocides of political and social institutions, culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups.

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Indigenous Nations History, Politics

Aaron Gunn responds: About Residential Schools

Originally published on Twitter

I’d like to clear up what has been said today.

I have always been firm in recognizing the truly horrific events that transpired in residential schools, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is simply false. I have never wavered in condemning these institutions of abuse, where countless First Nations suffered at the hands of a patronizing federal government. 

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Indigenous Nations History, Politics

First Nation Leaders Call Upon Conservative Party To Drop Aaron Gunn As A Candidate

First Nations leaders are calling upon the Conservative Party of Canada to drop Aaron Gunn, candidate for North Island-Powell River, due to a series of tweets he made between 2019 and 2021.

More than 150,000 First Nation, Métis and Inuit children were taken out of their homes and forced to attend residential schools between the 1870s and 1997. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission called the residential school system “cultural genocide” in its final report released in 2015.

Gunn tweeted: “Why are the report authors (and now Trudeau) sensationalizing truly horrific events, that need to be examined honestly, with a loaded word like ‘genocide’ that does not remotely reflect the reality of what happened.”  

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Housing, Indigenous Nations, Poverty, Seniors, Women, Youth

First Draft of the SRD Poverty Reduction Plan

The Strathcona Regional District is considering what could be an extremely innovative and societal changing plan. As CAO David Letich informed the Board, at their Wednesday June 26 meeting, the draft Poverty Reduction Plan is already more than 100 pages long. It was his intention to have the plam introduced through a presentation and then, hopefully, they will forward it to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion. 

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Health, Indigenous Nations

Acclaimed First Nations healer and therapist wins Reconciliation Award

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

After leaving residential school in the late 1950s, Klith-waa-taa would wade into a frigid river to brush himself with sacred cedar branches, cleansing away the trauma and negativity imposed upon him as a child. 

The traditional practice he learned as a boy at his grandfather’s side became vital to Klith-waa-taa, or Dr. Barney Williams, during his healing and path to sobriety at age 26 in 1965. 

“We would go into a river to bathe and ask for strength, but also to ask the Creator to look out for other people that needed help,” said Williams. 

“We usually go for four rounds in the water. The last round is for yourself — the first three are for other people.” 

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