Is it desirable to aim for lasting reconciliation with Indigenous nations? I believe so, but everyone will have to agree to collaborate, without bitterness, and this, for the future of young Aboriginal people who must emerge from the policy of “genocide” implemented by the federal government at the time with the complicity Christian Churches who thought they were on a mission of evangelization, but who were complicit in the worst abuses of young children taken from their families.
This cruelty of the authorities will never be erased from the memory of the Aboriginal people who have suffered torture, mistreatment, sexual abuse and even disappearance. Should the traumas suffered prevent future generations from living in a healthy, respectful and harmonious environment with other nations, in particular the Quebec nation? Now, what is the next step for a lasting reconciliation?
Unite the loneliness
The visit of Pope Francis allowed us to see both the isolation of the Catholic Church from the population, but also that of the indigenous nations.
Why ? Because the Quebec nation was absent from the pilgrimage with the Aboriginal peoples. In such a context, should we be surprised at the small crowds, both on the Plains of Abraham and at the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré basilica? All the representatives of the municipal, provincial and federal political parties were almost absent, except of course the Prime Ministers of Canada and Quebec, diplomacy obliges.
Despite everything, our elected officials will have an important role to play so that future reconciliation is lasting and irreversible with the Aboriginal peoples of Quebec. Here are my suggestions for a transparent and uncomplicated approach:
1. The legal approach: Condemnation by the Church of priests and religious pedophiles, excommunication of the culprits and collaboration with justice, in particular through archives and testimonies.
2. The political approach: Amnesty to religious institutions in return for the nationalization of inoperative religious places (churches, presbyteries, monasteries) so that they can be used by municipalities for the construction of social housing, schools, nurseries or places for community use.
3. The process of secularization: Consists of passing Church property into the public domain, or even removing functions or property belonging to it from the influence of religious institutions. In Quebec, “Bill 21” on the secularism of the state and the deconfessionalization of schools is part of this process of secularization.
4. The accountability process: Finally abolish the Indian Act, so that the Aboriginal nations can finally obtain their political and territorial autonomy and so that they can effectively assume basic services for their population: education, health, justice, and finally economic and social development.
5. The constitutional approach: Amend the constitution of Canada so that it no longer includes the supremacy of God in its preamble, while recognizing the collective rights of the Aboriginal nations, and by extension the collective rights of the Quebec nation. All colonial ties with the British monarchy should also be abolished.
In short, even Pope Francis recognized that “the joy of the Christian faith and experience is increasingly absent from Quebec society” and that the representatives of the Church must no longer believe themselves superior to other beliefs, especially with regard to non-believers.
All said that the reconciliation will be long. That’s true, unless we want it to be our legacy for future generations of young aboriginal people. We must act now!