Reconciliation Day
Ottawa: February 10, 2013.
Reconciliation Day, as part of Black History Month in Ottawa at St. Alban’s Church.
In the presence of Her Excellency, Sheila Sealy Monteith, High Commissioner of Jamaica, Senator Don Meredith of Toronto, The Reverend Mark Whittall of St. Alban’s Church and other invited guests and dignitaries, Rubin Friedman, Principal Operating Officer of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation was asked to speak briefly on Reconciliation and its relevance in remembrance of Lady Agnes Bernard Macdonald, wife Sir John A. Macdonald. These were his comments:
What is Reconciliation? At its heart it is acceptance, acceptance of others, acceptance of one’s responsibilities and acceptance of the need to act.
Reconciliation can have a religious sense. In the Bible, Isaiah speaks of a great day of Reconciliation in 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD”: God will forgive and accept his people when they repent, reform their ways and accept His word.
Reconciliation in these cases involves a sincere desire to change by those who have sinned as well as a clear demonstration of their changed heart through changed behavior in return for forgiveness from the Deity.
Reconciliation can be a political act where one group of people has wronged another and has a sincere desire to redress the wrong. In the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement signed in 1988, the Canadian Government apologized for previous excesses against the rights of Japanese Canadians in the Second World War.
The creation of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation was one of the symbolic actions of redress coming out of the agreement between the Government of Canada and the National Association of Japanese Canadians and which demonstrated the sincerity of the words of apology. Just saying “I’m sorry,” was not enough.
The Agreement was the model for further apologies by Prime Minister Harper to the Chinese Canadian Community for discriminatory actions against them and to Canadian First Nations for the treatment many had received in Residential Schools. In both cases, actions demonstrated true responsibility and commitment.
All of us as Canadians need to come to terms and to reconcile with our own history both our achievements and our missteps.
Reconciliation between individuals or groups who hold differing and opposing views can be a more complex process since each person or group is called upon to accept others when mutual wrongs, suspicions, biases and prejudices can be involved.
This is one of the kinds of reconciliation the Foundation is seeking to promote in its project on Interfaith and Belonging, funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada: Exploring how people of various faiths can come together with others in the public sphere to advance a common sense of belonging to Canada.
It is particularly in the spirit of Reconciliation that we pay homage today to Lady Agnes MacDonald, the Jamaican wife of Sir John A. MacDonald and her determination to address both her own situation and the situation of the poor and needy. She reconciled herself to doing the right thing in the face of serious challenges and obstacles.
The J’Nikira Dinqinesh Education Centre, Black History Ottawa and St. Alban’s are to be thanked for giving us all the opportunity to consider the importance of reconciliation to help build a country and a world where, as the prophet said, “nation will not lift up sword against nation. Neither will they learn war anymore.”
NT3
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