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Letter: In response to Chris Nelson's column

Re: "Column: Canada is not genocidal," Rocky View Weekly , May 25 I am appalled the referenced column made it past the editors. Perhaps it was printed to bait people into responding. Well, here I am – a fish on the hook.

Re: "Column: Canada is not genocidal," Rocky View Weekly, May 25

I am appalled the referenced column made it past the editors. Perhaps it was printed to bait people into responding. Well, here I am – a fish on the hook. Nevertheless, the column cannot go without response.

Nelson writes that Canada is not genocidal. I'd ask the Beothuk to respond, except I can't do so because they were systematically eradicated. Maybe the author of the column should read more about cultural genocide and residential schools.

I don't know why the term "woke" is used almost as a derogative in the column. Maybe it is a bit "buzzwordy", but when we know better, don't we want to do better? And just because we do better now – like give people in more vulnerable situations life-saving vaccines first – doesn't mean our settler ancestors weren't genocidal in their actions. When Louis Riel was hanged for treason, students of residential schools were brought to witness so they could be demoralized and shown there is no escape.

Ultimately, how dare you. How dare you minimize the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women, the residential school survivors (as well as those who didn't survive) and the victims of generational trauma because white people "gave them the vaccine first"?

Shame.

Kim Cheel

Airdrie


Airdrie Today Staff

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