Right in the centre - Change is good

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Published on Thursday, January 15, 2015

By Ken Waddell

The Neepawa Banner

In an article titled “Why clinging to tradition hasn’t worked for Nunavut”, Yule Schmidt writes, “The territory and its people should abandon their efforts to artificially keep alive a traditional way of life that no longer exists. Henceforth, the territory should embrace modernity, which will strengthen Inuit society, and in turn strengthen and protect Inuit culture. In short, a more modern Nunavut is the path to a society in which the Inuit do not merely survive, but thrive.”

Schmidt lives in the north and we may safely assume she knows about her topic. Her advice is wise counsel for any group of people. We confuse culture with how we make a living and how we live. It’s a bad mistake.

I come from a Scottish background and to put it in the simplest terms, my ancestors ate a lot of oatmeal. Oatmeal was a cheap source of protein and energy that worked well for physically active people. It was also high in carbohydrates and if eaten to excess and without exercise, it could make you quite fat.  Oatmeal is a Scottish tradition, born out of necessity. But you don’t have to eat oatmeal to appreciate or hold onto Scottish values. In the same way, you don’t have to eat seal meat to appreciate and hold on to Inuit values.

To some extent, the Scottish moved on in both location and in food choices. I think Schmidt is saying the same about the Inuit and perhaps every other group in Canada. It’s time to move on.

The Schmidt article is quite long and it outlines the problems that exist today in Nunavut, not the least of which is a very elevated school drop-out rate and a very high suicide rate. Nothing devastates a family or a community like suicide.

For the people of Nunavut to get to the point where, “Inuit do not merely survive, but thrive,” a lot of things need to change.

To look at things from our own rural farm community context,  the biggest thing that needs to change is for parents, and perhaps in particular, mothers,  to quit whining about how bad farming is. In some homes, all you hear is that kids need to get an education (that part is true) and then get off the farm. The second part isn’t true.  We need some really good people on our farms and fortunately that’s happening, in spite of whiny parents.

For the First Nations community,  they need to get off the “I see myself as a victim” bandwagon and take responsibility for their own lives. The aboriginal community has a very quiet split in it.  At one extreme, we have the “victim” mentality and at the other extreme,  we have the people who have left the reserves and gone and got an education, a job, a career, a life. In the middle, there’s a lot of confusion about what to do.

Overriding all the communities in Canada, and in particular in Manitoba, is the pervasive view that we have to wait for the government to do stuff for us.

I disagree!

If we are in reasonably good health and of reasonably sound mind, then we should be able to create our own future. If a person is not of sound mind or body,  that’s a different story but for the majority of people, we are responsible for our own destiny.

Canada has huge resources of land, minerals, space and opportunity. Our forefathers have created a frustrating but reasonably effective health safety net. There is also a reasonably effective but frustrating social safety net.  Within that context,  no matter where you are in Canada, again assuming soundness of mind and body,  you can have a reasonable chance of creating your own success.

The problem is that many people want success without change. I wanted success as a farmer on the home family farm. It wasn’t viable so I moved on. I wanted success at university and I achieved a bit in that context. I wanted to be an Ag-rep and was in that position for almost 10 years. I wanted to be an auctioneer and was one for 20 years. I wanted  to farm again and we did so.  A few bad decisions, some drought and 23 per cent interest rates killed off that dream. So against that background,  we started the Neepawa Banner over 25 years ago. Sure, it’s been a struggle but it worked and continues to work.

As Schmidt says, “People should abandon their efforts to artificially keep alive a traditional way of life that no longer exists.”  To put it another way, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. The “going” may be actual moving to another physical place or it may just be a changing of attitude.