On Sunday, September 22, tens of thousands of people braved the pouring rain in Vancouver on a “Walk for Reconciliation” to mark a week of hearings at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that has been hearing from survivors of Canada’s notorious residential school system.
The City of Vancouver earlier this year proclaimed 2013 the year of reconciliation. In a province where land was never ceded by Onkwehon:we people, and where 53 First Nations bodies are in the process of working out some 42 separate comprehensive land claims agreements with federal and provincial governments, it’s clear why various levels of government must at least appear to be concerned with reconciliation.
However, this “reconciliation” process is also proceeding at a time when the Vancouver police have stepped up their targeting and criminalization of Onkwehon:we and other poor people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, as Two Row Times has also reported this week.
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