Letter to the Editor: KPU’s celebration of Canada Day showcases its hypocrisy

Kwantlen Polytechnic University falls short in reconciliation.

Being an institution that advocates and prides itself on the work they have done for indigenization, KPU lacks the proper requirements.

In achieving reconciliation, there must be clarity, vulnerability, and visibility. Clarity is the clear separation between colonial language and advocacy. Vulnerability is the sharing of collective memory to acknowledge the hurt. Advocacy demonstrates our reciprocity to their sharing of Indigenous knowledge and vulnerability.

Decolonization is the act of acknowledging the hurt as a definite truth, and understanding the hurt as infinite. It is a place of vulnerability that institutions and individuals expect Indigenous peoples to share, meanwhile having Indigenous voices remain invisible in reconciliation.

There are three aspects of indigenization — Indigenous inclusion, reconciliation indigenization, and decolonial indigenization. These describe the acts of inclusion of Indigenous voices, thoughts, and actions, demonstration of indigenization — not just performative actions, and decolonial evidence, like the Brian Deer Classification System.

Rather, these exist as pillars that must be met to have true reconciliation. In doing so, there is also an implicit requirement of the “Four R’s” — respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility.

Following the Four R’s is essential to working and writing with Indigenous Peoples. Our reciprocity in collaboration with Indigenous epistemology should reflect the respect towards Indigeneity and work to meet them halfway.

Many institutions, especially post-secondaries, impose a bureaucratic system on students which separates and disregards Indigenous ways of thinking, learning, and understanding.

The main display of KPU’s hypocrisy exists in the celebration of Canada Day — a day celebrating the genocide of Indigenous Peoples. This is institutional racism and appropriation.

Institutional racism — apparent or not — is a systemic way to reproduce the dominant culture of modern-day hegemony, rooted in neo-liberal ideals. This discourse promotes the status quo, within the hopes of upholding an ignorant nationalistic message.

Canada remains colonial in practice, so why does our institution support Canada Day? If not to demonstrate hypocrisy, a possible argument could be that Canada prides itself on being a multicultural nation.

However, multiculturalism is colonial with its advocacy for one nation, language, and group — which suppresses Indigenous Peoples’ cultures. KPU pushes the neo-liberalist, colonial agenda while priding itself on doing good by Indigenous Peoples.

This is not to say KPU is failing. Rather, they are misguided with the lack of interdisciplinary values and work — unable to realize the hypocrisy. Canada is unceded land, and in acknowledging that, institutions like KPU can show their goals of inclusion, yet uphold merit as a leading factor to schooling.

There is work being done at KPU. However, there must be an emphasis to look into the issues regarding the practice of indigenization at the university.

There are of course “upsides,” such as initiatives and inclusion of voices at various events or classes — of which I am not disregarding. Little steps are small victories, but when the topic is Indigenous Peoples — where there is still active genocide — there is no room for “watering-down” and excusing progress.