Get your own Free Home PageAboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians should meet each other across the kitchen tables of the land to foster greater understanding, Constitutional Affairs Minister Joe Clark said Friday.
"There is still too much suspicion, too much misunderstanding and too much fear between aboriginal people and other Canadians, Clark told a meeting of the Metis General Assembly in Vancouver.
He said he was prepared to bet most non-aboriginal Canadians have never met an aboriginal.
"The closest they've come is to see (native film star) Graham Greene on the silver screen.
"How many Canadians have actually visited an aboriginal community, or talked to elders? How many Canadians draw their knowledge of natives from an armed barricade on Newsworld, or broken figures huddled on city streets?
"I have talked about the need for exchanges between Albertans and Quebeckers, between Maritimers and British Columbians, but there is also a need for exchanges between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians, people who are often neighbors, but equally often unknown to each other. The kitchen table is not the negotiating table, but trust can be built there, too. And it needs to be." Clark said he shared the disappointment of aboriginal leaders when the constitutional referendum failed last year.
"While the defeat of the referendum was a setback for aboriginals, the Charlottetown accord demonstrated it was possible for non-aboriginals and aboriginals to negotiate successfully, he said.
"When I write my memoirs, 1992
will not go down as my favorite
year," Clark said. "But I learned a
lot about my country during that
long constitutional process.
Nowhere was that more true than
regarding aboriginal Canadians.
You taught me about history, about
practicality, about dignity and
pride...."
(text of article from February 6, 1993 Vancouver Sun)
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