First, the “responsible” party must sincerely be sorry and ask for forgiveness. This may include Reparations, whether they be financial or in kind;
However, the second step is as vitally important as the first. The “victim” must truly forgive, not hold the responsible party to continue to perpetually account with further conditions and condemnations. Only then can “reconciliation“ take place. It’s the conscious act of putting the issue behind once and for all and allow true healing (on both sides) to occur.
So far, the journey concerning the oppression of Indigenous people is stuck in step number 1.
There appears to be no appetite to forgive; the only response this humble scribe observed is more and more and more reparations being sought. It’s frankly extortive behaviour.
When can the responsible party(s) finally say, “Enough, there’s no more reparations to give”?
And who are those responsible parties? Even assuming the genesis of unrest and unfairness started as late as Confederation (probably earlier), the overwhelming majority of us non-indigenous “colonizers” weren’t born, or were born in a foreign country and immigrated to Canada without as much as an inkling that somehow their hard-earned tax dollars were going to be used for a cause that clearly preceded them?
I am not minimizing the plight but simply emphasizing that reconciliation is a two-way street, but for now and the foreseeable future, the “other lane” seems to be closed.
D.N. Attorney at law
