06) FEBRUARY 14: REMEMBER AND MOBILIZE

People’s Voice Editorial

            For most Canadians, February 14 is simply Valentine’s Day, one of the biggest dates on the retail sector calendar. But in many cities, this is now a day to remember over a thousand  murdered and missing Aboriginal women and girls. On this date in 1991, the first Women’s Memorial March was held in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman on Vancouver=s Powell Street (her name is not spoken in respect of her family’s wishes). The March brings thousands through the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood which was “ground zero” for over fifty murders, committed while city police and RCMP shrugged off pleas to track down a serial killer.

            Today, the racist attitude behind that official indifference to human lives remains embedded at the heart of our federal government. Despite growing international calls for a fully independent public inquiry into the murdered and missing indigenous women, Prime Minister Harper and other cabinet ministers mouth platitudes about the need for “action, not studies.” Their smug arrogance reflects the “we know best” mentality which imposed the reservation system, the potlach ban, residential schools, shocking incarceration rates, and other forms of genocide.

            Let’s be quite clear. Nobody has ever said that action to address systemic racism should be put on hold during such an inquiry. The people and organizations raising this demand desperately want swift and radical action, including real government support for grassroots initiatives to tackle the consequences of centuries of high unemployment, deplorable housing, inadequate health care and schools,  and even the lack of clean drinking water. But this is not in contradiction to the demand that Canada must protect the human rights of indigenous peoples, including a fundamental and serious examination of the reasons behind the violence against Aboriginal women and girls.

(The above article is from the February 1-14, 2015 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)