Too much responsibility to ignore

Listen to this farewell speech to the House of Commons from Mumuilaaq Qaqqaq.

“Nice words with no action hurt most when they are uttered by those with power.” Mumilaaq Qaqqaq.

There is too much responsibility to ignore, and as immigrants and refugees these words must give us pause to understand where we’ve immigrated into.

Especially those who have emigrated from war and oppression, only to wake up as bystanders and witnesses of oppression. I hope your settling to Canada, and in careers and day-to-day jobs does not waiver your commitment to tearing down systems of oppression and building new ecosystems to champion basic human rights as a priority.

After so much of our own trauma and pain, why do we have to pick up this fight too? It’s a common question that’s answered by our own history. The oppression we ignore will find itself at our door in this generation or the next. We have a responsibility to not be passive observers of politics and to the realities we contribute to building around us.