#TaxTheChurch

THIS:

This was built on the backs of children.

The Catholic church in Saskatchewan claimed they didn’t have money to pay a legally-binding settlement $25 million to a local First Nations group, but they were able to build a $28.5 million church.

The solution to the problem created by the Catholics? Take the church.

By flaunting their position, they have put themselves in the position of risking their money and their property in Canada.

For those not familiar with the Residential School program, TV Ontario has developed an excellent timeline that captures several of the key moments and identifying important figures.

The formalized structure of the program is nearly 200 years old, but church-driven abuses are much older than that.

We have to make it stop.

The chorus is growing to #TaxTheChurch.

The coming years will unfold and reveal thousands of graves of children taken from their families, forced to learn languages they couldn’t understand and abused and beaten into submission to the church.

THIS:

This is the legacy of the church.

As we approach July 1, me and family will not be celebrating Canada Day. We will be wearing orange in solidarity with the First Nations people of Canada and will continue to pressure our politicians to do whatever it takes to bring about a sense of justice in Canada.

When reparations are paid by the church, we’ll celebrate Canada Day.

When the 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are read by Canadians and implemented by all politicians, we’ll celebrate Canada Day.

When Canada’s indigenous people get clean drinking water, we’ll celebrate Canada Day.

When different First Nations groups no longer have to suffer in shacks made of moldy pressed wood, we’ll celebrate Canada Day.

When the money and property of the church is returned to Indigenous people, we’ll celebreate Canada Day.

When the Constitutional right to separate school boards is removed from the Constitution – just like the Indian Act was – we’ll celebrate Canada Day.

I look forward to a day in my lifetime when we celebrate WITH First Nations peoples, not in defiance of them.