Building bridges between all communities
Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/100814
CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - Martin Zeilig Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Friends) announced last month that it has raised $8 million in private-sector donations in 2012, including $2 million in the last two months of the year. The Museum���s inauguration will take place in 2014. ���Friends is also delighted to announce the launch of a national advertising campaign that invites Canadians to help build a brighter future by supporting human rights education at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR),��� said the media release. ���Our national advertising campaign is designed to raise awareness among Canadians that their donations will help build exhibits and programming in the Museum that will inspire a new generation of human rights champions,��� commented Kathi Neal, Director of Communications & Marketing, Friends of CMHR during an interview with FNV. Established by Parliament through amendments to the Museums Act on March 13, 2008, which came into force on August 10, 2008, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is envisioned as ���a national and international destination-a centre of learning where Canadians and people from around the world can engage in discussion and commit to taking action against hate and oppression,��� according to the museum���s mandate. Significantly, the Indigenous gallery is the only gallery of the museum with a window as part of the gallery exhibit program, said Tricia Logan, a researcher with the CMHR, in comments posted on the museum���s website. She observed that the window and terrace are both visible on the construction site if you���re coming from St. Boniface, heading west towards downtown. ���The terrace wasn���t included in the original plans of the Museum but because of feedback we heard from our Elders group, the design was modified,��� said Logan. The views from the terrace and window are intended to be part of the exhibit. ���We heard from Canadians across the country that they want to see the stories of Aboriginal people in Canada in the Museum,��� said Logan. ���The Indigenous gallery is a unique space since the window and door that leads to the terrace, as part of the exhibit, serve as meaningful and beautiful connections to Aboriginal rights and concepts that appear throughout the museum. ���If we can change some misconceptions while also providing space in the museum for the voice of Aboriginal people, I think Canadians will be surprised by what they see and what they think they already know about Aboriginal rights. Defining Aboriginal rights isn���t defining people by violations against them, but a much richer story.��� IT���S TIME TO REPLACE THE INDIAN ACT Dear Editor, Hundreds of thousands First Nations people live in Canada and they deserve better than to be shackled by the failed colonial and paternalistic policies of the Indian Act, which has helped deny them their rights, fair share in resources, and fostered mistrust and created systemic barriers to self-determination and success. First Nations have been adamant that we need to move beyond it, yet the government has so far refused to get the ball rolling. The Indian Act is more than 136 years old and touches every aspect of life of First Nations. First Nations need the approval of the Minister to pass bylaws. It puts so much red tape around economic development that it often doesn���t happen. The Act is so intrusive on reserve residents��� lives that they cannot even write a will without the minister���s approval. Yet, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rightly said, the Act has deep roots and cannot simply be abolished. For decades governments of all stripes have allowed this problem to fester. Now all parties have a chance to take real leadership on the problem. I have a motion before the House of Commons compelling the federal government to work with First Nations on a nation-tonation basis on a plan to replace the Indian Act with modern agreements based on rights, responsibilities of the Crown, and the original Treaty relationship. With a deadline and a process, we can finally begin to resolve the many long-standing economic and social inequities that plague First Nations communities in Canada. Yet the Conservatives said they would vote against this progress by opposing the motion. They say they want to change the status quo, but once again, this is just words. We cannot continue to put this off. Please tell the Conservatives to vote for change. Yours sincerely, Bob Rae Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada