Romeo Saganash’s statement on Canada 150 sideswiped by plagiarism allegation
Romeo Saganash came out swinging at Canada for celebrating 150 years of colonialism in his July 1 Globe and Mail op-ed column titled, “150 years of cultural genocide: Today, like all days, is an insult.”
Unfortunately, his condemnation of Canada for treating Aboriginals worse than any other member of society, its policies of cultural genocidal and the expropriation of funds to help the poor on reserves was muted by allegations he plagiarized parts of his article.
Saganash, the NDP MP for Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou, apologized. “In drafting my letter on my thoughts on Canada 150, a mistake was made by which ideas that were expressed by someone else were not given proper credit. I take full responsibility for this omission and have taken steps to correct this.”
The Globe and Mail later reposted a corrected version of Saganash’s column that properly attributed the quotes to Erica Violet Lee, an Indigenous activist and blogger from Saskatoon, and University of Toronto PhD student Eric Ritskes.
It was Lee who first noticed that complete paragraphs from a speech she delivered on the 150th anniversary at Carlton University last March had been included in the article. According to APTN, Saganash contacted Lee to apologize and correct the record. Though under his byline, the column had apparently been written by an assistant.
Sadly, this incident took the wind out of the op-ed, which eloquently describes what it is like being a residential-school survivor and how the trauma of his experience still robs Saganash of sleep.
“It started when I was young,” reads the column. “Now I have a whole regimen of supports to help me sleep: exercise, healthy eating, music, darkness, relaxing tea, books of poetry. When it gets really bad: mandatory time off, writing, sleeping under the stars beside white pine trees, near a lake, on the land of the Eeyou, my people.”
It went to describe the effects of colonization on a personal basis: “How deep the tentacles reach. How vast the expanse of jarring totalitarian domination extends. Someone said to me recently that they like to have friends with different political and social points of view because it broadens their experiences and teaches them to refine arguments. For the past seven generations, in order to adapt to and accommodate the colonizer’s values, goals, institutions and society, I have learned to see so broadly that my eyes tear up.
“You see, for us, nearly everything around us represents colonial domination and genocide and is an example of Indigenous resiliency. Except that I’m really tired of constantly having to fight to prove that I have the right to exist.
“And I can’t sleep.”
In response to questions from the Nation Saganash said it remains difficult for him to celebrate Canada Day for many reasons. “Among them is the fact that the vast majority of Indigenous people in this country continue to live in Third World conditions despite being in one of the richest countries in the world,” he said. “Indigenous children and Youth continue to take their lives; Indigenous women and girls continue to go missing or get murdered; the housing crisis in Indigenous communities remains critical; and our fundamental rights continue to be challenged in courts by governments.
Saganash added that there are exceptions, where life is improving.
“Eeyou Istchee is a case in point, as [Grand Chief] Matthew Coon Come rightly pointed out,” he noted. “But I stand also with the rest of my Sisters and Brothers throughout the land who have not been as fortunate as my people; so Matthew can have my piece of Canada 150 cake.”