Won't Stand on guard for thee - a man's opposition to the Canadian flag & anthem

[McG]

Won't Stand on guard for thee
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
Saskatoon
Printed 21 Mar 05 in the Edmonton Journal

A silent protest by an aboriginal school board trustee in Saskatoon, who believes the Canadian flag does not represent his heritage and needs not be formally observed during the national anthem, has caused fellow trustees to accuse him of disrespect. The flag has only existed since 1965, but First Nations people have lived on this land for thousands of years, said Vernon Linklater, who is of Anishnabe-Cree heritage and a member of the Thunderchild First Nation. â Å“Playing the anthem is like taking steps backwards when we're two nationsâ ”First Nations people and Caucasian people. That (anthem) is all Caucasian and it has nothing to do with First Nations,â ? said Linklater.

During the playing of the national anthem to start public school board meetings, trustees are expected to turn toward the flag draped near a corner of the board room, arms at their sides. Linklater, a first-term trustee, faces forward, ignoring the flag to his left, his hands in his pockets and posture slouched.

Linklater called it a silent protest. He would like to see an eagle staff, the First Nations equivalent of a national flag, placed inside the boardroom.  Linklater added that he displays his national pride every morning when he performs a smudging ceremony.

Trustee Hildred Richardson first raised her concerns in a committee meeting attended by Linklater.  At the next board meeting, he put on a â ?vivid display of standing with his feet far apart and hands in his pocket,â ? she said. â Å“If he says it has to do with First Nations heritage, and that is the only nation he respects, I have an issue with that,â ? said Richardson. â Å“All trustees of an elected board are Canadian citizens. You cannot run for office unless you declare that you are a Canadian citizen.â ?

Following the 2003 civic election, the present board chose to start playing the anthem before meetings. Linklater opposed the idea, but was out numbered. Trustee Richard Gryschuk, who made the motion to play the anthem, said it's â Å“to show pride in our country and what we do.â ?


CanWest News Service

 

[Spanky]

I hate it when people do that :rage:  This guy wants it both ways.  He'll collect all the benefits citizenship provides and then piss and moan about how his heritage is not respected and how he is a citizen of another nation.  Screw him!

 

[Horse_Soldier]

Perhaps someone needs to remind this gentleman that respect begets respect and contempt begets contempt.  He may not feel anything for the Canadian flag and anthem, but out of politeness, he should show it the same respect as he would no doubt wish non-aboriginals to show his eagle staff.

 

[Edward Campbell]

I'm using this as a lead in to a comment on what I see as a significant problem.

Aboriginal Canadians constitute a large, growing underclass the members of which, despite billions of dollars being tossed at them, are falling further and further behind by almost every useful measure of social status or social progress.

Young aboriginal males are, generally, poorly educated, underemployed and bitter.

Poorly educated, bitter, idle young men are ripe for the picking by whichever political demagogue comes along and touts violence as a first resort.

Soon (20 years, maybe less?) aboriginals will constitute an absolute majority amongst the residents of Saskatchewan; when that happens Saskatchewan will become the first major political subdivision in the Western world in which the level of academic achievement of the majority is declining while its criminal conviction rate increases.

Some pretty senior officials in Ottawa believe that some form of aboriginal rebellion is a greater threat to our peace, order and good government than the one posed by al Qaeda.   I have heard it postulated that the country must be ready and able to deal with three or four simultaneous crises, each equivalent in size, scope and intensity to Oka in 1990.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

They need to get over it.  They may have lived here for thousands of years, but they didn't build any cities, railroads, dams, power stations, they overworked the land and killed off the buffalo in large numbers.  The white man came along and took it from him, and that's that.  Not that we haven't done our own bit of harm with pollution and industrialization, but I think we're much better off now, living to the age of 65 or 70, and in peace with our neighbours, with infant mortality at the lowest its ever been, than the way things used to be.

He can put up an eagle staff and bark at the moon all he wants, what does he think we should do - hand it all back? 

 

[Canuck_25]

They need to get over it.   They may have lived here for thousands of years, but they didn't build any cities, railroads, dams, power stations, they overworked the land and killed off the buffalo in large numbers.   The white man came along and took it from him, and that's that.   Not that we haven't done our own bit of harm with pollution and industrialization, but I think we're much better off now, living to the age of 65 or 70, and in peace with our neighbours, with infant mortality at the lowest its ever been, than the way things used to be.

He can put up an eagle staff and bark at the moon all he wants, what does he think we should do - hand it all back?  

Well, its not just a problem there, we on the coast deal with it too. They dont consider themselves as Canadian, but first nations. I say pull out the 7.5 billion dollars out from under them, eliminate reserves, specail status and let them live like Canadians.

The only problem would be that it is illegal to do that.

 

[camochick]

I dont agree with this mans aproach to his very valid issue. If he would show respect for the flag and the anthem then maybe he could try and work with his board and get a first nations flag in there as well.

As for natives in Canada, the government created this problem and so far all they have done to try and correct it is throw money to them in hopes it will go away. If the government would take an active role in trying to fix the problems that first nations have instead of trying to make it go away perhaps we wouldnt have issues such as these. The government and the bans(who are the ones for the most part mismanaging the money they are given) need to work together to try and fix the social problems on reserves and with our native population. It's great for the rest of Canada to sit on their high horse and whine about how the natives get all this stuff for free and we took their land fair and square but what is that doing for this problem. They are people just like us, and perhaps if given the chance and the proper guidance they can rid themselves of their social problems.

 

[Marty]

We hear many natives talk about the "old ways" ...I am a big fan of the old ways as well  ( for me its Recce in a Lynx) , anyway I don't see anybody living in tents made of deerskin , eating whatever they can kill ....or not eating when they don't have any luck. I just don't see how the present day  Natives in Canada have been that hard done by.,
I had to bye my own Powersaw and Skidder to go to the woods , I wish my Great Great Great Great Grandfather (not sure if thats enough Greats ) had signed a treaty back in the 1700 s  saying that the Gov two or three hundred years later had to give me a Skidder or for that matter a Lobster licence complete with a shiny new boat.

If the coin of the Realm is good enough to spend , the flag of said Realm  should be deserving of RESPECT

 

[P-Free]

Personally, when I stand for the national anthem, it isn't just because I am Canadian, it is honour the men and women who keep us safe and protected.

And whenever I stand, I see people all around me, people not even born in Canada but have immigrated here, standing proudly.

 

[GGboy]

Here's the thing: if this guy's Anishinaabe-Cree his ancestors have been in northern Sask for a couple hundred years tops. The Cree moved into the northern prairies in the late 1700s and early 1800s by means of what we would call ethnic cleansing today: pushing the Assiniboia, Blood and other nations south and west.
Not sure where the Anishinaabe (Ojibway) angle comes in, since they're a Great Lakes nation.
Point is, while I have a lot of sympathy for the problems native people face, blaming Canada is just too easy. That flag represents a country that has, while not perfect, done a great deal and spent a great deal to try to address those problems.
I suspect this fellow's just grandstanding.

 

[Sh0rtbUs]

Heres an idea, give him his plot of land, make it a territory and cut off all borders to it to trade, importing/exporting, and communication lines. See how keen he is on protesting about Canada while he starves in the dark confined to his home. Of course, then he'll be able to honour his heritage any way he wishes... :



Im Scottish/Irish, you dont see me protesting that theres no Tartan on the flag or that the Anthem has no recognized piper riff dedicated to the Emerald Isle!? If everyone did, there would be an awful lot of people with bad postures and worn out pockets...

 

[sdimock]

I don't see that this mans protest has any real purpose other than to annoy the other trustees.

 

[camochick]

I dont agree with what this man is doing, but I dont agree with the sentiment that natives are second class citizens (and no I am not saying everyone thinks this way, but some do). What if a group of people came here to Canada today and said, hey you cant speak your language, you cant practise your religion, you must all live in communities where tuburculosis is rampant, the houses are crap, the water is dirty and some ban is going to mismanage your money, oh and we will send you to a residental school where you will be abused physically, emotionaly and sexually. But hey, we will throw some money at you so dont complain. I have a friend who is fully aboriginal but looks white so he doesnt like to tell people he is native because people automatically have a stereotype about him. He works, he doesnt get tax free status nor does he use his status to fish, hunt or get any other sort of freebies. Why in a country we like to say is so great does a person have to hide who they are because people have these automatic assumptions about them. The problem can be fixed, with a little effort from all sides.

 

[Gunnar]

Keep it simple:  Everyone who wants to be a Canadian, sign here.  Everyone who doesn't, sign this piece of paper instead.  It simply states that you renounce all benefits of Canadian citizenship, that your SIN is void, that all government-issued ID is revoked, that all welfare, UI and other government-sponsored programmes no longer apply to you.  Futher, you are no longer eligeable to represent the Canadian people in any area, which means you are no longer on this board, and thus, no longer a problem for us.  God Save the Queen!

Oh, you meant you wanted to be of your nation AND our nation?  Sounds a lot like eating your cake and having it too....

 

[S McKee]

I really get sick of listening to this we were here first bit, considering recent archaeological evidence suggests that people of European decent the Solutrean peoples from the region of modern day southern France were here thousands of years (pre Clovis) before the peoples that crossed the Bering Land Bridge. I feel sympathy for the aboriginal peoples and what they've gone through in the past, but much of their present woes are due to their own mismanagement and corruption in reserve counsels.

 

[Long in the tooth]

As Edward Campbell has pointed out below, several parts of Canada are set to have a significant percentage of natives in the near future.  This includes Winnipeg as well as SK.  I agree that this pending 'underclass' bodes ill, but I'm also concerned that those paying taxes may soon get fed up, and violently.  When a race based benefits system exists, don't be surprised when you have racial animosity.

The representatives of Gladstone and Disraeli certainly did not promise natives freedom from taxes in perpetuity, although that is being 'read into' treaties.  As far as I'm concerned, I was born Canadian just like first nations (whatever that means) people were, and for a buck thirty four they can get a coffee at Tim's just like me.

 

[camochick]

http://www.taxpayer.com/main/news.php?news_id=274

 

[dutchie]

So let me get this straight. White people came here and displaced/fought the Natives and won. We acted improperly, and now have to grant them special rights not afforded to the rest of us because of this mistreatment, and because this is their native land. Kind of a 'They were here first' idea. BUT, the Natives themselves displaced/killed other natives and occupied their land. Does that not remove their claim of 'me first'? Further, it's not like they are indeed 'native' to North America, they are immigrants too. They just happened to (im)migrate here before we did.

My family has been here since the 50's, does that give me special rights over other citizens who immigrated here in the 60's? Of course not.

We are compensating for prior racism with knee-jerk retaliatory racism.

 

[Strike]

It's one thing to be upset about what happened to one's people way back when, it's another to reject any REAL help (other than just plain cash) when it's offered.  When it was reported that several bands had been mismanaging moneys given to them by the government, this same government wanted full disclosure of how any future money was spent.  Oh, can't have that.  It's against self government.  Come on people, you can't have it both ways.

Success by an Aboriginal band is very achievable.  Look at the Mambertou (sp?) band in the Maritimes.  They are known as one of the wealthiest business communities in the area.  Companies are lining up to get contracts with them.

 

[T.I.M.]

So let me get this straight. White people came here and displaced/fought the Natives and won. We acted improperly, and now have to grant them special rights not afforded to the rest of us because of this mistreatment, and because this is their native land.

Actually it's because the Crown signed legally binding treaties with them guaranteeing them certain rights.  Those rights were subsequently ignored for a very long time, but now the Canadian government is trying (being forced) to live up to the old treaty obligations.

We got a briefing on Aboriginal issues on arriving in the North and it was quite an eye opener.  It's a very complex issue, and one that's made particularly hard to discuss rationally because everyone on all sides feels so strongly about it, one way or another.

That and due to the events of the past the current situation is a right mess.  I'm told it is improving though.