It's Canada's 150th Birthday And Here Are 50 Things We Really Need To Talk About

Hey Canada, 

It's coming up to your 150th Birthday this week. As a citizen of this beautiful country, there are a lot of things to celebrate. Your beautiful landscapes, bill C-16, and fairly great health care (er...I'll get to this later). 

But, Canada, I think we need to have a talk. There are a whole lot of things that I can't stop thinking about things that make it difficult for me to feel in a "party" mood. Things like our disproportionate suicide rates among Indigenous youth, or racial profiling, or our cruddy sex worker laws, to name a few. 

The historical moment we will commemorate on July 1st is the year of Confederation (1867) — "a bunch of old white guys signing a document that bound a loose collection of provinces controlled by the British Empire into a vague and discontented unity without the slightest consideration of or participation by the First Peoples."

Resistance 150, an indigenous political movement, is planning to disrupt the anniversary itself.

No matter how much Avril Lavigne I blast through my apartment, I can't help but feel a pit in my stomach about this whole Canada 150 thing. 

I know that it is hard to think about these things, especially when we are known for being polite and kindhearted. To look ourselves in the mirror and say, "crap, we've been doing this all wrong," is never an easy thing. 

But, Canada, I don't think I'm alone when I say that I wish this party was going a little bit differently. Instead of shouting our pride, I want to be the ones who lean over and listen to the quietest voice in the room. So, I've made a list of 37 things that I think we ought to be thinking about, talking about, prioritizing. 

This is going to be a tough conversation, Canada, but I hope it will be the beginning of something good. 



1. Canada 150 is a lie

Let's get this big thing out of the way. Canada 150 is catchy, sure, but it certainly doesn't do proper justice to our Indigenous population, who have called this land their home for 15,000+ years. 

The year we are celebrating, 1867, is the year of Confederation. The day that we are celebrating, July 1st, is the day when a bunch of white settler men signed a document that "bound a loose collection of provinces controlled by the British Empire into a vague and disconnected unity without the slightest consideration of or participation by the First Peoples. 

Since then, we have "celebrated" 150 years of cultural genocide aimed at our Indigenous populations. 



150 years ago, genocide. Not acknowledged. 

http://torontoist.com/2017/04/...

(http://www.cbc.ca/news/busines...)

(http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...)

2. Support of cultural appropriation in the literary scene

https://www.thestar.com/news/g...

Something I'm proud of: Props to the crew that started the Indigenous writers award to counter the award.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigen...

3. People just can't seem to understand why uniformed police weren't welcome to march in Pride this year

http://www.knowable.com/a/reve...

4. Our corrupt correctional system. Prisons are the new residential schools

http://www.macleans.ca/news/ca...

5. Our drug problem 

Fentynal. Drugs treated like law, not mental health or recreational. 

https://www.theglobeandmail.co...

6. Our treatment of seniors

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

7. our prime ministers ability to charm his way out of responsibility by looking good

8. Racial profiling 

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/m...

9. Transphobia 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion...

Something I'm proud of: The passing of bill ofidofj

10. Our improper way of addressing pedophilia 

https://www.thestar.com/news/i...

11. Food waste

http://www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

(we waste more food every year than is necessary to solve world hunger)

12. Homelessness

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

13. Our lassaiz-faire treatment of white collar crime is a testament to our privileging of certain classes of people

 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...)

14. Cultural appropriation on the commercial level

https://thewalrus.ca/on-cultur...

15. Racism in our LGBTQ community

http://www.independent.co.uk/v...

16. The growing cost of post-secondary tuition and young adult debt

http://globalnews.ca/news/2924...

17. Home grown terrorism

18. The number of bankrupt Canadians is rising

http://globalnews.ca/news/3336...

19. Our sex worker laws are crud

 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...)

20. There are over 50 endangered species in Canada

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wildlife_Species_at_Risk_(Canada)

21.  Our foster care crisis 

https://www.theglobeandmail.co...

22. Gay men STILL can't donate blood 

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

23. A lack of diversity on board of directors (and in leadership in general)

https://www.boarddiversity.ca/...

24. We still have a wage gap ...and it's getting wider

https://www.theglobeandmail.co...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

25. Our health care that we're so proud of? It's not that great 

26. Suicide rates among Indigenous youth

(http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion...) (http://www.cbc.ca/news2/intera...)

27. Mental health resources for university students

https://www.thestar.com/news/c...

http://www.macleans.ca/educati...

28. Our literacy and numeracy rates are nothing to be proud of

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

29. Even our best and brightest struggle to find work

http://www.macleans.ca/economy...

30. 4 of our major cities have dangerously high air pollution

http://www.besthealthmag.ca/be...

31. Toronto is having a housing crisis

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

32. We treat veteran PTSD as a joke

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

33. The church is still involved in major decisions about our country

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/d...

34. We're at a demographic tipping point

http://www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

35. Tampons and pads are still not government subsidized 

https://www.thestar.com/news/g...

36. Many Canadian towns still can't afford to have a recycling program. Most cities and towns don't have a green bin program

http://www.buschsystems.com/en...

37. The 13th month for Canadian refugees

http://www.macleans.ca/news/ca...

38. Our pipe line

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

39. Xenophobia

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/m...

40. The pinkwashing of Pride 

http://canadianart.ca/features...

corporate opportunism at it's finest!

41. The way our courts handle sexual assault cases (and sexual assault survivors)

42. The exclusivity of academia 

43. 


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