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I do not have to go far away
 but just look within canada     to see
there is starvation      poverty      and death

now, this will never be taught in schools     but not a secret
that our first prime minister     sir john a macdonald
starved the aboriginal people into submission     deliberately
to clear a path     for the canadian pacific railway

his national dream . . .        

it was not enough that fur traders brought    diseases
    small pox
        measles
          influenza
but they hunted the wildlife almost to extinction
   in time the crystal clear waters were polluted 
     leaving the aboriginals starving and desperate
         the government withheld food
            until the first nation people agreed 
                 to live on reservations

designated areas      trapped and humiliated
unable to leave    they could not farm    not hunt
not fish    in time dependent on the government for food 
        and if they complained
the substandard food rations were cut     often the food
was contaminated anyways      children died  many died

sir john boasted proudly of the indigenous people
"on the verge of actual starvation"       some hero

and even today      2017    there is widespread poverty
starvation    on first nation reserves in canada
     infant mortality, no running water, NO
       access to drinking water (laced with e coli)
          high price food brought by air
                       imagine,  $25.00 for a loaf of bread
               living on welfare (with no way out) no education
                        little heat in the freezing canadian winters
        teenage suicide on the rise -   a national disaster
            prejudice and discrimination to this day

oh no    I do not have to go far     to see starvation
   slum conditions    overcrowding    sewage backups
garbage     and broken houses     and extreme poverty
it is a national disgrace (in canada)

oh yes    there are some sanitized reservations
   there are some really pretty places    they show off  
but still
                there are many not so nice

but canada is always ready to step up and help others
(look in your own backyard) first mr prime minister

it is a  horrible situation     with hopelessness 
    and what is the answer to that circle that goes on
and on, since sir john a macdonald stole   
     their land      their way of life   their culture
         and even their children to provincial schools
that abused the children, yeah lets pay them into silence
the government of canada should be     ashamed
to allow this     in this day and age
    of abundance
in my country-

____________________________
November 13, 2017

Poetry/Free Verse/The Dark Side Of Canada
Copyright Protected, ID 17-9609-61-0
All Rights Reserved.  Written Under Pseudonym.


Submitted to the contest, In The Name Of Country
The Dark Side of Nationalism
sponsor, Debbie Guzzi

First Place
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