Reprinted with permission from TheTyee.ca. Forty-eight of us are standing on the banks of the Fraser River at the Lytton ferry under a hot September sun. We’ve just been told that the bus we were supposed to take to the…
How many times have I heard people bemoan the lack of art – or even the appreciation of art – in the modern church? That may have been legitimate in the past, but the tide has clearly turned. Here are…
I was getting desperate. It was the last of four days at the Montreal Truth and Reconciliation Commission meetings (in April). Sorrow, despair, hope, anger, defeat, defiance and confusion washed over me like waves buffeting a message bottle destined for the…
Bill Chu has been active for many years on a number of social justice issues – including opposition to gambling, support for aboriginal rights and stressing the importance of recognizing historic injustices to the Chinese community. Following are two current…
The recent screening of a film that reveals through disturbing eyewitness accounts the horrors of the residential school system could become a catalyst for healing between First Nations people and Asian evangelicals. “People have been working hard at that already,”…
Originally I’d intended to devote a couple of short articles to locally-written books, in the hopes that a few of those books would find their way under Vancouver Christmas trees (here are parts one and two). But as I started…
Any week called Reconciliation Week has got to be a good one. We’ll start with what that’s all about, and then look at some other highlights around town in next few days. Reconciliation Week The historic nature of the week…
On Tuesday morning, Nisga’a tribe member and residential school survivor Alex Watts will embark on his most noteworthy canoe journey to date. He will lead the ‘Nisga’a Friend’ in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s All Nations Canoe Gathering. Not only will Alex…
It is surprising to many Canadians that 150,000 Aboriginal children were forced to attend Indian Residential Schools from 1831 to 1996 as part of Canada’s official efforts to assimilate Indigenous people. It is not surprising that many victims did not…
“I ask the Creator to come down and bless this event.” That was the prayer of Theresa Campbell from Musqueam Nation as she opened a news conference hosted by Mayor Gregor Robertson at Vancouver City Hall July 25. The event…