Saskatchewan Education Minister Bronwyn Eyre has landed herself in some political hot water over recent comments in the Legislature.
Eyre says she wants to have a discussion on how certain subjects — including First Nations issues — should be taught in Saskatchewan schools, which in and of itself is a reasonable process for an Education Minister to suggest.
In that speech, Eyre said, “there has come to be at once too much wholesale infusion into the curriculum, and at the same time, too many attempts to mandate material into it both from the inside and by outside groups.”
From that NDP education critic Carla Beck became involved, saying she had serious concerns about Eyre’s speech because educators in the province she knows thought Eyre’s comments on infusion were aimed at how First Nations issues are taught in classrooms.
We are certainly in a time where the exact words spoken are important, perhaps at times having too much attention focused on them, and not the issues behind them. The words of course carry far more weight when uttered by a provincial Minister.
And, when those words delve into how the education system handles teaching the history of First Nations.
Education is a critical component in current efforts at reconciliation, which is a must if we wish to move forward as a united nation.
Most do not well understand what Indigenous and Non-Indigenous reconciliation in Canada is about. The focus tends to be on the legacy of residential schools.
It is actually a more diverse process focused on restoration of lands, economic self-sufficiency, and political jurisdiction for First Nations, and equally important it looks to develop a respectful and just relationship between First Nations and the rest of Canada.
For non-First Nations it is important to understand this country’s history. Most will suggest school history books cover that already. It is however true as Winston Churchill once said, “History is written by the victors.” In that regard the current history many of us grew up studying was no doubt skewed, whether a little, or a lot, being a matter of some debate.
Beck hit on what needs to transpire suggesting a need for a far deeper historical understanding of First Nations history, and how First Nations people still bear the consequences of past federal and provincial government policies. To suggest these are not truths would be to falling into the trap of our past history books.
Eyre’s words may have been poorly chosen, but they may bring the need for a better balanced look at our past to ensure a better for future for us all
