Visit from MP Carolyn Bennett

MP Bennett has held multiple ministerial positions; in her role as Minister of State (Public Health), she helped to establish the Public Health Agency of Canada. Her talk at Greenwood focused on her work in her current position as Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. She built upon the themes and issues raised during our Week of Reconciliatory Action in November, and for our Grade 12 Interdisciplinary students in their Reconciliation unit.

MP Bennett emphasized that all Canadians have a role to play in reconciliation. “All Canadians should have the recognition of Indigenous rights as part of their identity,” she said. She discussed the government’s work to move Indigenous peoples towards again having self-determination and jurisdiction over their communities. She also spoke about the need for change in Canada’s child-welfare system. “Indigenous kids have the right to be raised as Indigenous kids,” she said. “We need to fix the government so we can keep pace with Indigenous nations and help ensure that children are happy, healthy and thriving.”

She also stressed the power young people have to be agents of change. “You’re part of a generation that knows that the status quo is not okay,” she told Greenwood students. “An important element in reconciliatory action is a willingness to call out discrimination.”

Thank you to MP Bennett for taking the time to visit, and for helping our students deepen their understanding of the work ahead in the ongoing process of reconciliation.