Wisdom of the Elders: Canadian Reconciliatory Experience as an Insight on the Present

John Soroski

doi:10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2019v34.009

Abstract

AbstractCanada’s first two large historical encounters of recognition and work-in-progress accommodation of previously marginalized and alienated groups involved French Canada and newcomer Canadians. The third such engagement is now underway in response to the Indigenous peoples of Canada. While this endeavour is long overdue, there is reason for concern that the laudable enthusiasm of many for this project of reconciliation may be authorizing some policies, practices and discourses that conflict with and potentially undermine the values that informed and came out of previous inclusionary encounters. Three areas of concern arise. The first is the embrace of state deference in some instances to unlawful and sometimes violent forms of Aboriginal protest and resistance, undercutting the idea of the rule of law and of the value of the peaceful resolution of disputes. The second is the propensity to under critically over-authorize Indigenous cultural communities as sources of moral valuation, in ways that may undermine individuals’ dignity and well-being, as well as doing harm to the good of intra-cultural inclusiveness. The third is the related tendency to over-valorise Indigenous cultures and claims in ways that suggest symbolically and in practical terms the idea of the existence of morally first-class and morally second-class Canadians.

Highlights

Canadian state and society have participated in two grand, long-term encounters of response, recognition and work-in-progress accommodation of previously marginalized and alienated groups
My intention in this article has been to highlight what I perceive to be some worrying developments in the admirable Canadian project of reconciliation with the country’s Indigenous peoples
I think there are a wide range of reasons why recognition, in the sense Charles Taylor suggests, and continuing reconciliation in the relationship of larger Canadian society and Indigenous communities are desirable

Summary

Introduction

Canadian state and society have participated in two grand, long-term encounters of response, recognition and work-in-progress accommodation of previously marginalized and alienated groups. While the first area of concern I have noted here in the recent evolution of the Indigenous reconciliation process concerns implications around violence related to Indigenous claims and the related reduction of recognition of the legal authority of the overarching Canadian state, the second involves in some ways the flip side of this coin This is the potential over-authorization of Indigenous governments and cultures, expressed in particular in the idea of Aboriginal societies as exclusive sources of moral valuation for their members and in excessive idealization of isolationist forms of Indigenous sovereignty. His judgment suggests the importance of avoiding official prioritizing or endorsement of any culture or religion, even when they are not being directly imposed upon others

Conclusion

Findings

Canadian Association of University