Robert Jago: Canada wasn't — and isn't — ready for an Indigenous governor general - CBC News | Opinion

26.7.17

Canada wasn't — and isn't — ready for an Indigenous governor general - CBC News | Opinion: While it's good to see these views present in the governing party, and good to see Indigenous MPs free to speak publicly in support of this position, their conclusion — that the appointment of an Indigenous governor general would be a positive symbol of a changing Canada — is wrong.

Sure, an Indigenous governor general would be a symbol, but primarily one to non-Natives — to white Canada — and a dangerous one that could derail reconciliation, at that.

Canada might receive its first Indigenous governor general in much the same way that the U.S. received its first black president. When Barack Obama was elected back in 2008, the message to American people of colour was that change was possible and that we're powerful enough to elect one of our own: a person who knows our struggles and our ambitions, and who can help to pave the way for others.