Canadian indigenous people and misguided wokeness
THE EDITOR, Madam:
I have always been a great fan of editorial cartoons. So, when a story appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s website concerning a newspaper editor issuing an apology for a cartoon he had published, it piqued my interest. It was April 4 work of veteran Ontario cartoonist Steve Nease depicting the apology from Pope Francis to Canadian indigenous leaders in Rome. The Pope was saying “I AM SORRY.” to a chief in a feathered headdress and beside him was a female accountant holding a paper marked “Comp”, asking “HOW $ORRY ?”.
Indigenous leaders were upset about perceived stereotyping in this cartoon in Simcoe County, Ontario, where seven local papers had printed it, resulting in the editor’s apology.
More often than not, editorial cartoons are dripping with sarcasm, and usually reveal the truth of the matter in a few clever pen strokes, making good on the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. In my humble opinion, that certainly appears to be the case here, remembering tha, 15 years ago, the Vatican promised to pay survivors of Canada’s Indian residential schools a sum of $27 million. That promise was never kept, with the church citing poor fundraising efforts. So there’s no doubt that apologies, reconciliation and compensation are linked, making the cartoon seem quite self-explanatory. Although they constitute about five per cent of the total Canadian population, so many indigenous issues are dominating today’s media landscape.
By vociferously complaining on matters such as the cartoon, their leaders may well lose some of the genuine sympathy for their community that so many non-indigenous Canadians hold, especially following the discovery of unmarked graves at Indian residential schools grounds. Maybe their frequent virtue signalling, and overwhelming urge to appear politically correct at all times, has shone a brighter light into their misguided wokeness.
BERNIE SMITH
Parksville, BC
Canada