The irony in the recent discovery of one of Franklin’s ships is simply too strong to ignore.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that the Erebus or Terror have been found. It’s part of Canadian history.
It is, however, ironic that Harper rushes to exploit the situation when the ship was found right where Inuit oral history said it would be found.
It is ironic that meanwhile the Conservatives’ relationship with First Nations continues to deteriorate. It is ironic that Canada’s strongest claim to sovereignty in the North comes from the Inuit and the Thule people that have populated the Arctic for the last millennium and a half.
It is ironic that the Harper government chooses to focus on the misadventures of one well-known white European male, when the Inuit, Thule, Dorset and Pre-Dorset people have lived throughout and explored the Arctic archipelago (including the Northwest Passage) for close to 5,000 years.
Let’s face it. Europeans were not the first to explore this continent. We are simply the most recent to try and take credit for it.
My Canada does not link the value of a person’s accomplishments to the colour of their skin.
Dave Weir
Haines Junction