That time Poilievre stomped on factual history

OTTAWA—“With the prime minister working so hard to erase our memories,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stated, “it’s easy to forget how good life was and how good it can be.” So much has been written about Poilievre’s closing speech at the Conservative convention on Sept. 9. And yet not nearly enough has been written about it. What about this nostalgia for Canada’s past? Poilievre described the heterosexual couple with kids and it felt like a “Leave it to Beaver” sketch from the 1950s. It was a memorable era as veterans of the Second World War came home, the economy was great, young couples were buying cars and homes and colour TVs. It was truly a great for white, heterosexual, married folks. Let’s go back to that, he proclaimed. Who didn’t prosper in those decades? Who thought the 1950s was a terrible time to survive? I’m not sure Jewish families would agree that the 1950s was a great time. While Canada officially said it would accept refugees impacted by the war, many influencers—including federal cabinet ministers—made it almost impossible for Jews to immigrate here because of racism. Japanese Canadians may share their stories about being forcibly moved to internment camps, and trying to find their way back home to their West Coast communities in the early 1950s. Single women who were pregnant, some as a result of sexual assault, who were forced to give up their babies because single women couldn’t raise kids alone. Black Canadians, who were allowed to immigrate to Canada, but only as domestic workers. LGBTQ2S people, who weren’t allowed to marry or get jobs or even walk down the street in safety. Canadians with mental health struggles including individuals suffering from autism which was erroneously called a "mental defect," and all such labels were forced into residential treatment. Indigenous families torn apart by residential schools who lost children to abusers and neglect wouldn’t consider it the “good old times." It was the assimilation times. Inuit with tuberculosis who were forced into TB asylums in the south, and sometimes lost forever by their families. Indigenous veterans of that very same war who fought alongside white Canadians only to come home to the same old racism which removed their veterans' rights. The 1950s were good for white heterosexual married couples with 2.2 kids and a white picket fence. Yes, it was a decade of relief after the Second World War, and we need to remember the contributions of Canada to world peace. But the only way that one could have nostalgia for this time is with a total lack compassion for others who might be just a little different. There were all sorts of movements started in the 1950s that changed everything. Indigenous rights, gay rights, Black rights, the rights of women to their own bodies: they all started in the 1950s and came to full force in the decade following. The irony is the white picket fence didn’t hold up against the fight for inclusion and equity. Progress pushed it way through. So if anybody wants to be nostalgic, let’s talk with awe about the amazing people who fought for human rights in the 1950s, for Black Canadians, for Indigenous Canadians, for women’s rights in health and more. The country we have now would not have come to be without the visionaries who saw a future in which we enshrine human rights and equity for all. Including Conservative prime minister John Diefenbaker who oversaw the Canadian Bill of Rights in 1957, the precursor to today’s Charter of Human Rights. History requires a fulsome telling, not just the stuff that makes you feel good. And the icing on this cake was some of the most onerous rights-restricting proposals passed at the Conservative convention last week in the “bring-it-home” regime. Say goodbye to the big Conservative tent which has turned into a small flag-draped house with a white picket fence. Rose LeMay is Tlingit from the West Coast and the CEO of the Indigenous Reconciliation Group. She writes twice a month about Indigenous inclusion and reconciliation. In Tlingit worldview, the stories are the knowledge system, sometimes told through myth and sometimes contradicting the myths told by others. But always with at least some truth. The Hill Times

That time Poilievre stomped on factual history

The 1950s were good for white, heterosexual, married couples. Yes, we need to remember Canada’s contributions to world peace, but only those who lack compassion for those who might be different can be nostalgic for this era.

Time for a shift: Canada must treat Alzheimer’s like other progressive diseases

Between wars and fears of fascism in the U.S., there’s plenty to be scared about

Poilievre can’t just ‘cat-call from the periphery’: Tom McElroy

The problem of political homelessness

Liberals have fumbled green energy transition, and Conservatives have zero interest

Trump alienates women and Puerto Rican voters

The Poilievres’ mom-and-pop shop

Sec. 35 rights are not to be given to just anybody

Bring back civility and morality to the House before it’s gone

Bloc MP Trudel chastised for using F-word while reading a David Goudreault poem in the House

The year 2023: reconciliation in review

News

Get free news updates

Opinion

Submit a guest opinion article

resources

Advertise

subscribe

get help

That time Poilievre stomped on factual history

The 1950s were good for white, heterosexual, married couples. Yes, we need to remember Canada’s contributions to world peace, but only those who lack compassion for those who might be different can be nostalgic for this era.

Get The Weekend Point of View Newsletter