An excellent point. There is an undercurrent in Canada presently that rewards victimhood, to any degree,real or imagined. Lies, embellishments, are quickly latched onto. Truthful things are judged as showing lack of empathy and must not be discussed.
Another criminal might be Stephen Kakfwi, former premier of the NWT and husband of TRC commissioner Marie Wilson.
Kakfwi devotes a chapter of his memoir *Stoneface: A Defiant Dene* to his admiration for Father Jean Pochat, who served as a mentor to him and his fellow students at Grandin Home in Fort Smith. Grandin was the boarding residence for students from northern communities who were attending public schools in Fort Smith. “There were Dene, Métis, Inuit and Inuvialuit students, but we were all Catholic. Grandin turned out a high number of Northern leaders,” Kakfwi writes, and then he lists more than a dozen prominent leaders and their accomplishments.
At the risk of getting Kakfwi in trouble, here are a few excerpts from his Pochat chapter:
<< I started to think back on my time with Father Pochat in my thirties and forties. He helped shape me into the person that I am today, especially because my own father was not there for so many years. He was my other father for six years of my life, from when I was twelve until I was eighteen. But I never thought about that then. >>
<< Father Pochat left Grandin around the same time I did. He went back to his own parish, what we call today Behchoko, but back then it was Fort Rae. Father Pochat went back to be with the Thcho Dene. He learned their language and had his own dog team so he could visit people out on the land, because that's where they were. And that's where he's buried now. His parish was his whole life, and the Thcho were his people. I only recently realized that he was part of the reason why I always had such strong support from the Thcho. . . . He didn’t abandon us after we graduated; all his life, he provided us with support and encouragement. >>
When Steven heard that Father Pochat was on his deathbed, he and Marie drove to Behchoko to be at his side.
<< Marie talked to him in French for a while. You could see that he could hear her, for French was the language of his childhood. Then I took a turn and whispered into his ear in Dene. I told him that before he left this earth, I wanted him to know how much I'd come to appreciate who he was and what he had done, and that I was sorry I never saw it before, but I had been troubled by many things. I thanked him for being my father for six years and for his support, and I told him that we love him, that I love him. I could see tears rolling down the side of his face. He squeezed my hand, so I know he heard me. Those were the words I said to him. He passed away about ten minutes later, so I was one of the last people who talked to him on this earth. >>
<< The effect that Grandin College had on the North was immense and Father Pochat was the one who put it all together. He received the Order of Canada for the work he did with us students. To me, Father Pochat was what an Oblate was supposed to be. He took vows of poverty and humility, and he never spoke about himself. He was devout. He lived a simple life and yet his influence was profound. >>
How do the people with positive stories safely share them in Trudeau's Canada? They are afraid.
An excellent point. There is an undercurrent in Canada presently that rewards victimhood, to any degree,real or imagined. Lies, embellishments, are quickly latched onto. Truthful things are judged as showing lack of empathy and must not be discussed.
Another criminal might be Stephen Kakfwi, former premier of the NWT and husband of TRC commissioner Marie Wilson.
Kakfwi devotes a chapter of his memoir *Stoneface: A Defiant Dene* to his admiration for Father Jean Pochat, who served as a mentor to him and his fellow students at Grandin Home in Fort Smith. Grandin was the boarding residence for students from northern communities who were attending public schools in Fort Smith. “There were Dene, Métis, Inuit and Inuvialuit students, but we were all Catholic. Grandin turned out a high number of Northern leaders,” Kakfwi writes, and then he lists more than a dozen prominent leaders and their accomplishments.
At the risk of getting Kakfwi in trouble, here are a few excerpts from his Pochat chapter:
<< I started to think back on my time with Father Pochat in my thirties and forties. He helped shape me into the person that I am today, especially because my own father was not there for so many years. He was my other father for six years of my life, from when I was twelve until I was eighteen. But I never thought about that then. >>
<< Father Pochat left Grandin around the same time I did. He went back to his own parish, what we call today Behchoko, but back then it was Fort Rae. Father Pochat went back to be with the Thcho Dene. He learned their language and had his own dog team so he could visit people out on the land, because that's where they were. And that's where he's buried now. His parish was his whole life, and the Thcho were his people. I only recently realized that he was part of the reason why I always had such strong support from the Thcho. . . . He didn’t abandon us after we graduated; all his life, he provided us with support and encouragement. >>
When Steven heard that Father Pochat was on his deathbed, he and Marie drove to Behchoko to be at his side.
<< Marie talked to him in French for a while. You could see that he could hear her, for French was the language of his childhood. Then I took a turn and whispered into his ear in Dene. I told him that before he left this earth, I wanted him to know how much I'd come to appreciate who he was and what he had done, and that I was sorry I never saw it before, but I had been troubled by many things. I thanked him for being my father for six years and for his support, and I told him that we love him, that I love him. I could see tears rolling down the side of his face. He squeezed my hand, so I know he heard me. Those were the words I said to him. He passed away about ten minutes later, so I was one of the last people who talked to him on this earth. >>
<< The effect that Grandin College had on the North was immense and Father Pochat was the one who put it all together. He received the Order of Canada for the work he did with us students. To me, Father Pochat was what an Oblate was supposed to be. He took vows of poverty and humility, and he never spoke about himself. He was devout. He lived a simple life and yet his influence was profound. >>