Haroon Siddiqui

Unfulfilled nation torn from its aboriginal roots
Sep 21, 2008 04:30 AM

Re: John Ralston Saul, philosopher and prolific writer. He is the author of such groundbreaking bestsellers as The Collapse of Globalism (challenging prevailing economic orthodoxy) and Voltaire's Bastard: The Dictatorship of Reason (bemoaning the trumping of justice by reason).

His latest book is A Fair Country, Telling Truths about Canada (Viking), to be released, propitiously, as it turns out, in time for the Oct. 14 election.

"Canada is in trouble because it has been untethered from its aboriginal moorings."

"The central inspiration of our country is aboriginal ...
How we imagine ourselves, how we govern, how we live together, how we treat one another when we are not being stupid is deeply aboriginal ...

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This is so awesome. Thank you Jon Ralston Saul. You speak from the heart of Canadians.

We are three founding nations, Indigenous, French, British, in that chronological order. Our laws include Indigenous, French and British traditions.
Indigenous Peoples are, as Saul so rightly points out, "the senior founding pillar of our civilization."

Their 'say in development, and a share in revenues' is now quite simply TOO long overdue.

How wonderful that this book is coming out before the election. There is a real need to boost the public and campaign-related profile of Aboriginal rights issues, particularly our governments' failure to negotiate before developing, the cause of disturbing confrontations in several locations, and an immediate general concern right across the land.

It demands prompt legislated resolutions, imo, to properly and consistently implement the laws of Canada, to stop the need for confrontation, and re-orient our thinking.

quote:

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Originally posted by JaneyCanuck:
I suppose my Irish ancestry bristles when I see the word British but he is right abut the aboriginal nature of the country. Yes, the French and British did at times control our country but we are Canadians now - and should respect every ethnic group that has come here. As favourite saying goes, "We may have arrived in different ships but we are all in the same boat now" Alas, It is the SS Harper-Titanic with his arranging the deck chairs with tax credits for niche voters, all of them middle class and with nothing that marks true leadership!

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I think what he is pointing out clearly is that all of us ... "every ethnic group that has arrived here" ... have to learn to pay respect the rights of those who were here already before Canada existed, the Indigenous Peoples who are our allies and who helped us to found Canada.

[ 21 September 2008: Message edited by: hali ]

When you think about that statement: if Canada is in trouble, it's because we've become unmoored from our aboriginal roots -- you might scoff. At a surface level it doesn't seem to be true. What has that got to do with driving to work every day?

It should be available to the public in the valley of the Grand River, far as I can make out from the above postings.

quote:

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In this startlingly original vision of Canada, thinker John Ralston Saul unveils 3 founding myths. Saul argues that the famous "peace, order, and good government" that supposedly defines Canada is a distortion of the country's true nature. Every single document before the BNA Act, he points out, used the phrase "peace, welfare, and good government," demonstrating that the well-being of its citizenry was paramount. He also argues that Canada is a Metis nation, heavily influenced and shaped by aboriginal ideas: egalitarianism, a proper balance between individual and group, and a penchant for negotiation over violence are all aboriginal values that Canada absorbed.

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Aren't some of these values CCF values?

The Metis culture is a bit different than either Native or European cultures - a sort of hybrid. Negotiation would help one deal with both mom and dad.