After watching the pre-readings, I realized that too many people are being displaced away from their land just because they do not hold enough power. In my vision for a just future, people who have ancestrally lived on a piece of land will have the right to continue to live with the land. There will be no division between anyone regardless of class or skin color because everyone and every culture is valuable.
(Please correct me if this solution is unfeasible or impractical)
To help eliminate the Procedural Dimension of Injustice, we can adopt councils as a new method of decision-making. This will allow us to include local or First Nations representatives so that every kind of voice is heard. I believe this is the most important dimension to tackle because once people start seeing a diversity of people taking part in decision-making, everyone will have a more equal position of power. Previously (even now), most people in the chairs of decision-making are Caucasian. This makes marginalized communities invisible because no one sees them on the media. By taking action in including more diversity in decision-making, we can equally distribute power to every group of people, and with the right allocation of power we can easily fix the recognitional and distributional dimensions too.
I believe that in a utopian future where racism and discrimination are eradicated, my vision will easily come into reality.
Hi Lisa, I love your idea of creating councils that include local and First Nations representatives and wish we saw more of this in British Columbia. I just wanted to confirm that for your vision, are you thinking of these councils being primarily for environmental issues or more so general councils where First Nations individuals can share their input for a variety of problems?
Throughout the long history of racism, which has been consistent to this day, we cannot imagine how vulnerable and sad those who have been violated are, and the anger that lives in their hearts, which can catalyze them to become better or to become like their perpetrators. I wish racism could die now because it makes no sense. Discrimination, I don't think, can be caused as much as racism, and I can't imagine a world that isn't full of discrimination, such that everyone gets the same paycheck, eats the same things, gets the same diseases, reaps the same marriages, grows the same physical features, etc. Scary.
Also, how to make these councils actually happen? I'm not sure that we'll ever eradicate racism and discrimination, but it doesn't hurt to aspire to that.
The fact that we have mostly Caucasian people in positions of power in Canada is an important fact to realize. There are very few Indigenous MPs, MLAs, judges etc. so I agree with you that the voices of minority groups, like Indigenous peoples in Canada, are muted compared to the voices of Caucasian people. Would love to see this idea of representative councils come to life!
Hi Lisa, I totally agree that we need new ways to make decisions! I'd love to hear more about your idea, though. E.g., would these councils be a new level of government? Would they be entrenched in the provincial system (which largely controls what happens on the land)? There actually used to be something like this in BC: they were called LRMPs (Land Resource Management Plans, but the plans came with a decision-making body which was effectively like your councils). Or entirely separate? If separate, how would their jurisdiction—their authorities and responsibilities overlap with existing jurisdictions?
Hi Linda, I really liked your idea of setting up a council for decision making and having more diversity in those that are chairs of decision-making as a way to tackle injustice and ensure marginalized communities get their voices heard as well. Great post!
Hi Lisa, I really like the idea of adopting councils. I think having a First Nations representative in which indigenous people trust , will have a large impact on decision making.