Not too long ago, I met someone from an European Country. They talked about how much they loved Canada and they exclaimed to me “how awesome it must be to be part of the ‘First Persons’ of Canada.”

The person further stated how Canada is such an awesome, free, loving country.

I informed them that this isn’t how Canada always was. The person asked what I meant by that statement. I went on to also tell them about Residential Schools and the origins of the Indian Act and what this piece of legislation was really meant to do–assimilate Natives into Canadian Society. After sharing this story with that person, they said, “Wow, that’s not what they teach us over in Europe.”

I replied, “That’s not what they teach us in Canadian either.”

That’s part of Canadian history, why is it not taught in history courses at the high school level, or even elementary level. I get that there are specific courses at the post-secondary level. However, we can’t censor stories about our own Countries history and only speak about the horrors of another country’s history–meaning I learned about WWI and the Holocaust in High school, why didn’t I learn about true Canadian History then?

I wonder what they learn in history today. Are textbooks still the same?