Lisa Shouldice MA, RP, CCP, Psychotherapist

I read an article from the Globe and Mail last night that is currently circulating on social media sites as of yesterday.  The residential school report came back and has decided that what Canada has done to Aboriginal people and their families is a cultural genocide.  People are angry.  I need to address this. As a non-Aboriginal person that believes a part of my calling as a Psychotherapist includes the honour and privelege of supporting Aboriginal people on their healing path, I cannot believe people are angry about this.  To do the work I do, I have had to admit and accept that I am a colonizer.  No, I did not directly harm anyone, but I live with the benefits of living on Canadian land everyday.  I also live with the sadness that my people could not be excited to learn from another incredible people and respect and share space.  If they had, I truly believe our environment and personal relationships would be different today.  I am saddened by missing out on these possibilities.  I sit with Aboriginal people everyday who struggle with trying to reclaim their lost culture. To find a way to relearn and embrace their culture and walk with pride.  I see the trauma and the effects of colonization and the residential school legacy.  It is hard to admit my people did this.  Deliberately.  And I cannot sit back and lie to myself.  If we come from a place of compassion we can look at each other in a new way.  We can grow and heal together.  We can be enriched for our time together.  I am truly sorry.  It will never be enough. But if I am able to face this truth, HISTORY DOES NOT HAVE TO REPEAT ITSELF.