Trudeau missed one: Emancipation Day

Vincent J. Curtis

2 Aug 22

Because Prime Minister Trudeau was vacationing in Costa Rica, he missed an opportunity to shame Canada again, this time on Emancipation Day.  This is the day that slavery was officially abolished in the British Empire, and we are frequently treated to people with calypso accents talking about it.  By implication, Canada is falsely tainted in the Black slavery business.

Slavery was abolished by act of the Upper Canada legislature in 1793, and was done so when British-American Tories began arriving in Upper Canada from America with their slaves in tow.  No, said Governor John Graves Simcoe, that doesn’t go here.

The CBC alleged that there were some 3000 Black slaves in New France, but this can’t be true.  Where is their legacy?  Where are their descendants?  Chattel slavery never existed in Lower Canada, and so never had to be abolished.

British North America was the terminus of the Underground Railroad, a place of freedom for escaping American slaves.  They settled near Chatham and in Nova Scotia, and their legacy and their descendants survive to this day.

Canada was a beacon and an example to the British Empire and to the world.  Rather than tainting Canada with slavery, emancipation celebrants should be thanking Canada for being so advanced in its thinking.

Racism is distinct from slavery.  The racial attitudes of the late 18^th century are what they are, and were coloured by the perceptions of the times.  Put yourself in their shoes before condemning, if that isn’t too much to ask of Marxist – Progressive nihilists of today.  Despite it, slavery was abolished.  Comparing racial attitudes between the 18^th and 21^st centuries shows how open the thinking of Europeans is to advancement and change.

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