In an increasingly polarized political landscape, it can be hard to visualize a Canada where settlers and Indigenous people truly come to a place of reconciliation. But Jody Wilson-Raybould is confident it can happen — and believes we’re on our way there.
She said that change can only come, though, if people know the truth about Canada’s past, and the varied experiences of those who have lived through it.
“What I have, in traveling extensively around the country, experienced is Canadians from all walks of life wanting to know more and wanting to know what they can do in terms of advancing reconciliation,” she told CBC’s The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn.
“This is progress. We have made progress. We certainly still have a long way to go.”
The lawyer, author and former federal justice minister talks about her new book, Reconciling History: A Story of Canada.
The lawyer, author and former federal justice minister is tackling Canada’s past in her latest book, Reconciling History: A Story of Canada, which will be released on Oct. 29.
Wilson-Raybould and fellow lawyer and author Roshan Danesh aim to reflect a multitude of perspectives on Canadian history, including those of Indigenous people — whose experiences may not be the same as those whose ancestors colonized the country.
Wilson-Raybould said the book covers both the legacy of her people, the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk, and the history of colonization, as well as how that history has been portrayed.
And while that may seem like a heavy topic, Wilson-Raybould remains optimistic about the impact the book may have.
“I like to think it’s a hopeful book and coming to a shared story of Canada, wherein people have learned and sought to really, in detail, understand that there are different perspectives about how we came to be where we’re at in this moment.”
Where we are right now is a bit of a mixed bag: some people are making great efforts to try to learn and understand the history of colonialism, some are questioning the truths shared by Indigenous people and others are somewhere in between.
Regardless, Wilson-Raybould said just the fact that these conversations are happening shows progress.
“We have to come to a place in time where we confront the fear that exists in many people,” she said.
She wants to make Canada a place where Indigenous people are given the opportunity to rebuild their nations, after being devastated by colonialism and the residential school system. She said that includes helping them to self-govern and enjoy the fundamental human rights other Canadians have — for example, things like clean water, adequate health care and general safety.
“For those people that fear or are against Indigenous reconciliation, [understand that] the basic human rights that you enjoy are the human rights … that Indigenous peoples do not enjoy to the same extent. And we need to correct that.”
Many of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action, published in 2015, included having an understanding of the history of Indigenous people and the residential school system.
Wilson-Raybould hopes her latest offering will encourage readers to think a little further about the experiences of fellow Canadians.
“I’m hoping [it] actually draws out those different world views, allows and enables people to look, as we do at totem poles, from very different perspectives.”