When studying history, context is everything. Last week, Canadians were treated to yet another example of ignoring it as certain politicians tried to burnish their woke credentials.
Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement commemorating Emancipation Day, the date that the odious practice of slavery was ended throughout the British Empire by passage of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1834.
He stressed that slavery existed here and that even after the passage of the bill, “freedom was not granted in a single day” and that black individuals still faced discrimination and segregation.
He was followed by two of his ministers, Foreign Minister Anita Anand and Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller, who invited Canadians to “reflect” on the “history of slavery in Canada.”
It is unfortunate that none of them didn’t go further in their “reflections” to point out that the history of slavery in Canada is very different from that of the United States. What was missing was an important context – that we led the way in abolishing slavery in the British Empire.
Yes, there were slaves in Canada. Estimates range from 4,000 to 8,000 over approximately 200 years of our history, according to National Post columnist Michael Higgins.
But compare that to the estimated ten million unfortunate individuals trapped in bondage in the United States over the same period. And yes, whatever the numbers, it was wrong. But the differences don’t stop there.
Forty years before the British Empire got around to abolishing the practice, Upper Canada, as Ontario was then known, had already passed the first anti-slavery legislation in 1793 which prohibited the importation of enslaved individuals into the region, paving the way for the famous “Underground Railroad.”
The railroad was an informal network of individuals here who helped runaway slaves find freedom across the border in what is now Canada. Again, estimates are that some 30,000 to 40,000 slaves were helped to freedom here, with many becoming successful members of the communities in which they settled.
Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre tried to strike a better balance in his remarks by reminding us of how we also led the way. He too condemned slavery as immoral but then noted that “we as Canadians have a special place in this story, because it was 40 years prior, in the young colony of Upper Canada, that a reformist Lieutenant-Governor by the name of John Graves Simoce passed the first law limiting slavery in any of Britain’s territories.”
The difference in approach is important. One tries to instill systemic guilt among Canadians about a history they had nothing to do with and can do little to rewrite. That only serves to drive people apart, to “turn them off” and to encourage more division.
The other recognizes that we also have things to be proud of in our history, that we have been capable of acting for the greater good before and that we can do so again.
The prime minister ended his statement by saying that “we recommit ourselves to building a Canada where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”
That is a worthy goal but it can only be accomplished if he can unite Canadians in the cause by occasionally pointing out that we have things we can be proud of as a country and that we are capable of positive change.
Janet Ecker is a former Ontario Finance Minister, Minister of Education, Minister of Community and Social Services and Government House Leader in the governments of Premier Mike Harris and Premier Ernie Eves. After her political career, she served as the founding CEO of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, a public-private partnership dedicated to building Toronto region into an international financial centre. She currently sits on a number of corporate and non-profit boards, agencies and advisory committees.
Ms. Ecker received the Order of Canada for her public service contributions and was recognized as one of the “Most Influential People in the World’s Financial Centres” by Financial Centres International. She also received a “Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award” from the Women’s Executive Network and the Richard Ivey School of Business, among other awards. She is also one of the founders of Equal Voice, a national, multi-partisan organization working to elect more women.
