Trudeau says Canada 150 opportunity to acknowledge mistakes of the past
Posted May 20, 2017 8:35 am.
Last Updated May 20, 2017 12:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A year after Justin Trudeau formally apologized in the House of Commons for the Komagata Maru incident in 1914, the Prime Minister says reconciliation with indigenous peoples will be part of Canada’s sesquicentennial.
The PM’s trip to Vancouver this week came with an acknowledgement of past mistakes.
“Of understanding the mistakes that were made, the choices that were deliberately made to marginalize, to ignore, to break the bonds of respect that should have united us all.”
It was more than 100 years ago that hundreds of Sikh, Muslim and Hindu people were denied entry to Canada, leaving them to a violent return to India.
Trudeau was then quick to point to more recent autocracies of the residential school system.
“We are also acknowledging the mistakes of the past and as we talk about the Komagata Maru, so too must we speak of reconciliation with indigenous peoples.”
Trudeau says for Canada’s 150th, there is cause for celebration of youth, environment, and diversity.
