Truth Telling - Michelle Good

 My mom loaned me a bunch of books and this was one of them. 

This is a collection of seven essays. I read about half of them. 

The introduction begins with some comments around the phrase truth before reconciliation, and she asserts that it is an anthem of sort that has lost its meaning. Within the first few pages she says "We must step away from the window dressing of reconciliation."  She says these are not academic essays, they are her personal take, and "these essays examine the brutal intentions of colonialism that continue to harm us..."

Based on the introduction's emphasis on non-Indigenous Canadians becoming aware of Indigenous history, I get the strong impression that this book was written primarily with a non-Indigenous audience in mind. 

"The rise and resistance of Indigenous literature" is the chapter which I appreciated the most. She does a great job outlining the chronology of publishing Indigenous literature in Canada, including outlining how Indigenous movers and shakers created structures in which Indigenous authors could thrive. Then, that lead to more mainstream acceptance and demand. It's a well organized chapter which points the reader to a lot of other great readings. I also like the way that she grounded discussion of Indigenous literature within the larger policy context. If I were still teaching, I could see myself using parts of this chapter or the whole thing, depending on the context and level. It's probably also good background reading for anyone who is teaching Indigenous literature and would like to do some accessible background reading on Indigenous literature in Canada. 

The chapter on the sixties scoop ($13.69) is a good introduction to the topic which uses her personal experience to help the reader understand the devastating impact of separating children from their families. 

There were intriguing details about her career throughout. For example, one of her first jobs was a writing contract for UBCIC and she mentions advocacy on behalf of First Nations organizations and residential school survivors, but doesn't go into a lot of detail. She used to be a lawyer. She specialized in residentials school settlements. The book itself focuses mostly on her personal life and her opinions about Canadian public policy (aka colonialism), but doesn't include a lot of detail around her career as an advocate and lawyer. I was very curious about that, so I dug a little bit online. 

First, I read this Canadian Lawyer Magazine article. In the article, she talks about how it was her career in advocacy that led her to eventually go into law as a mature student. She talks about racism that she faced as an Indigenous lawyer. And she talks about how she recovered from her constructive dismissal at the Department of Justice. I think that it would be very interesting to read more about the constructive dismissal, but I would not be surprised if she were not allowed to say much about it. But it would still be nice to hear any advice that she has for Indigenous professionals working in the public sector. 

As she is a lawyer, I plugged her name into CanLii. She self-represented herself against the Department of Justice in 2006. Here are some of the facts:

[6]               The plaintiff is a lawyer in Vancouver.  On the 30th of August 2002, the plaintiff began employment with the Federal Department of Justice office, working as a lawyer on Indian residential school claims and resolutions.  She alleges that her contract-based employment with the defendant was partly in writing and orally, and was for an indefinite duration. 

[7]               The plaintiff states that it was an implied term of her contract that the contract would not be terminated by the defendant for anything but just cause and upon provision of reasonable notice and severance pay in lieu thereof. 

[8]               Approximately two years after her employment began, the defendant gave the plaintiff a performance evaluation which was highly critical of the plaintiff’s interpersonal skills.  The plaintiff filed a grievance under the provisions of the Public Service Relations Act.  The plaintiff alleges that in response to the filing of this grievance on the 23rd of August 2004, the defendant directed that the plaintiff no longer work on any substantive matter and removed the plaintiff from all activities involving prosecution, negotiations, and resolution of residential school claims save and except for work on one file. 

[9]               Additionally, it was alleged that the defendant removed the plaintiff from her working groups email list such that she received no information pertaining to the prosecution, negotiation, and resolution of residential school claims in the office generally.  She further alleges that the defendant forbade her from working with other members of the team in resolution of the residential school claims. 

[10]           It is the plaintiff’s position that the actions of the defendant as noted above were actions in retaliation for the plaintiff exercising her statutory right to file a grievance. 

[11]           On the 8th of September 2004, the plaintiff elected to treat the conduct of the defendant as a repudiation of the contract and to treat the contract as being terminated.  The plaintiff alleges that she was constructively dismissed by the defendant and the dismissal was without just cause and without reasonable or any notice and that it constituted an arbitrary and wilful breach of contract. 

[12]           Additionally, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant has falsely and maliciously defamed her.  A memorandum was generated in June 2004 in regards to the plaintiff.  The memorandum, without repeating the allegations, suggests that a number of cases that the plaintiff was working on were settled for what appears to be too high a dollar figure.  The memorandum also questions whether or not there is any way the plaintiff could have benefited personally from overpaying lawyers who settled claims on behalf of clients.  This memorandum appears to have had limited, if any, circulation.  It was essentially placed in her employment file which was disclosed in these proceedings. 

I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to go through all of that. I think it was brave of her to stand up for herself. The matter was resolved through an out of court settlement. Sometimes I hear non-Indigenous people tell Indigenous professionals that maybe they can work for the government and change things from the inside. That's a really nice idea, but sometimes it doesn't really work out like that, even within processes specifically created in order to further justice for Indigenous people. Colonialism is a powerful force. The Canadian Lawyer Magazine article explains how she was able to overcome this experience, work for another law firm, and eventually begin her own practice. 

I also read the judicial review around an election appeal that she was pursuing, which was also an interesting read.