What Others Say

Page 4

On Friday, The Herald published a Vic Parsons column pointing out the same time Canadians are enjoying a $12 million birthday party July 1, Native newspapers could be closing their doors because of federal budget cuts that chopped their $3.2 million for funding.

The meanness of the cuts to aboriginal peoples contrasts sharply with the federal government's generosity to the one-day celebration on non-Native communities. Balloons and fireworks apparently enjoy a higher priority in Ottawa than the maintenance of a year-round communications system that contributes to the renewal of a people experiencing cultural crisis.

Perhaps it's time for a meaningful gesture showing a sense of solidarity between Native and non-Native communities. Southern Alberta's towns and villages, joined by the City of Lethbridge, might contribute their portion of the $12 million Canada Day celebration to the operating budget of Kainai News, Southern Alberta's Indian newspaper.

Nobody in the South would suffer from the lack of another party. But this symbolic act would show the spirit of neighbor helping neighbor, on which Canada was built, lives on.

The Lethbridge Herald, April 9, 1990