By Sammy Hudes
A group of Indigenous men say they’re hoping to start a dialogue with their fellow Calgarians – no matter how “stupid” or “ignorant” their questions might be – in an attempt to build an understanding following high-profile acquittals in the cases of Raymond Cormier and Gerald Stanley earlier this month.
To do so, they’ll be camping out in a tent across from the downtown Calgary courthouse for the foreseeable future.
“This is basically what I’m going to be calling home for the next little while, indefinitely, until they kick us out. There is no deadline,” said Garret Smith. “Our demands, we don’t necessarily have any. The change, the acknowledgment that we want to feel, it has to be felt.
“I know it’s going to take time. This is an issue that I don’t want to just brush under the rug. I don’t want to just be here for a week and then forget about it and move on to the next one. I want this to be an ongoing thing.”
The tent went up Sunday at 8 p.m. following a rally in response to the of Cormier in the death of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine. Cormier had been on trial for second-degree murder.
Earlier this month, Stanley was in the second-degree murder trial for the death of Colten Boushie.
“Those are definitely sparks that helped light this fire for sure but those are just parts to a larger issue,” said Smith. “There are numerous cases of injustices towards Indigenous people, toward all people of colour at this time, that we just can’t allow to happen anymore. I have a daughter who’s 13. I had to have a conversation with her about protecting herself. I bought her a cellphone for the sole reason to protect herself in case, God forbid, something should happen.”
Smith said there’s a mix of hope and frustration being felt right now in Calgary’s Indigenous community.
He hopes the campout will translate the anger he’s feeling into something constructive and healthy. The tent will be a drug- and alcohol-free zone and a hub for Indigenous men to share their thoughts and talk about the broader issues surrounding reconciliation, he added.
“I definitely hope the politicians are watching,” said Smith. “I definitely hope that there is some light shed on all this … but my basic motivation is to engage people here on the ground floor, to actually talk with people one on one and open up some minds.
“Hopefully, I get some non-natives coming in here, too, to talk. I want non-natives to come by and engage in conversation with me. This is a safe place to ask the ignorant, stupid, racist questions that we all have.”
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Related to SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
