Dr. Suzanne Shoush is a First Nations/Black (St’atl’imx and Sudanese) physician, mother and advocate based in Toronto. She is a co-founding member of Doctors for Defunding Police.
Sept. 30 marks our National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The CMA can only play a role in healing wounds if it openly reflects on what continuously harms Indigenous people so specifically and systemically in this country.
Today marks our second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It has been two years since the death of Joyce Echaquan; 16 months since the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc community confirmed long-held knowledge that hundreds of little children were buried in unmarked graves on the grounds. Since then, the haunting reality of more than a thousand additional radar “pings,” with each ping confirming the body of a little child lying in an unmarked grave, on the very grounds of the school they were forced to attend. So much has happened . . . but what has changed?
For Orange Shirt Day, do not be tempted to nitpick facts, debate terminology or look for a silver lining. We must drop the disingenuous arguments and accept our collective history – and our present.