The Status Quo Must Go

This is our first ‘Letter-from-the-Editor’ styled post from me, the founder of On Canada Project. You can learn more about our project, and our dynamic team of 170 Millennials and Gen Z here. Let me know what you think of the following blog. — xx SK

It took far too long for flags to be at half-mast when the bodies of 215 Indigenous children were found behind a residential school in British Columbia last week.

Let’s take a second to explore that further.

It took several days to lower the flags to half-mast — an action that doesn't affect the budget, require policy considerations or public/expert consultation.

Lowering the flags literally takes the bare minimum amount of effort — but would show that the government grieves with the Indigenous people of this country — and yet — it took days of public outrage from settlers and international news coverage to lower the flags.

For just a minute, can we all sit with that?

Because here’s the thing: if it took days for something as simple as lowering the flags — then it begs the question — how long until we see meaningful action and results on all 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Report?

How long until Indigenous people of the land we live on have justice, reconciliation and peace?

The truth is, it's not just this particular government and its leadership; it's every federal government we've had. It’s the colonial structures, rooted in white supremacy, that we all operate and live within. It's politics and politicians in general.

I don't know about you, but I’m over it.

I’m done with the status quo. I’m done with performative allyship and performative actions.

Honestly, I think most Canadians feel similarly, but we all hit a wall when we ask ourselves, “well, what can I do about it?” It feels so daunting right? The system is huge, historical, and not set up for meaningful engagement from citizens. It can feel so overwhelming to think about challenging all these existing systems, structures and status quos. Tbh, I’ll admit, in December 2019, I don’t think I would have felt it was possible.

But then 2020 happened — btw, this isn’t even the beginning of an exhaustive list of - and with it, we got a dumpster fire of a year where;

A global pandemic hit us,

We marched for Black Lives because the police murdered another black man and it was recorded,

We were gaslit by leaders, and we watched them decide that the lives of marginalized folks, many working in essential jobs, were not as important to protect during a global pandemic,

And then this past week, the remains of 215 children were found in an unmarked grave outside of a residential school, and it took days to lower the flags.

I mean, enough is enough. I’m done. I’m done listening to governments and leaders sharing their "thoughts and prayers," implementing half-measures or performative measures or actions that only happen after public outrage.

So instead of hitting that wall over and over again and wondering what I can do about it, I asked myself, what can we, the people, do about it? Together. And suddenly, I could see that wall breaking, because here’s the thing — we can be frustrated and doing nothing by ourselves or be frustrated and doing something together.

If we do nothing, they win. Our leaders are just going to keep doing what they have always done; offering their thoughts and prayers and telling us they care but pairing their words with performative actions.

But if we’re united, if we demand that our leaders do better for this country and the people who live on this land, then maybe, just maybe, we can get them to do more than just lower the flags. Maybe we can mobilize and use the fact that Canada will have a federal election within the next 5-12 months.

Right now, political parties are building their platforms and their messaging.

Soon, politicians across the political spectrum will be vying for our votes.

I say, this time, let’s make them earn it.

For Immediate Action:

Status Quo Must Go To-Do List

Step 1: Join our contact list for people who are done with the status quo by filling out the quick form below.

Step 2: Find Your Rep - for the federal election, you’ll want to look for your member of parliament (MP).

Step 3: Read this post to know what to expect and then email your MP. Ask them what they’ve done for the issues you care about - (we’re working on a resource guide for this!)

Step 4: Check out Settlers Take Action

Step 5: Share this page with some friends and consider getting involved with our team.