Letters to the editor Sept. 17, 2020

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While I hope that we will never again face the intensity of the crisis we felt this spring, I do hope that the spirit of collaboration, partnership and engagement that came out of it lives on. On COVID and prompt payment, thank you Government of Saskatchewan.

Mark Cooper
President & CEO, Saskatchewan Construction Association
Regina

Racism at the U of S

CBC reporter Jason Warick states that Indigenous professors and staff have left the University of Saskatchewan “because of racism, a hostile work environment and the slow pace of reforms.”

What is lost when Indigenous scholars are not at university tables? Opportunities to make a positive difference in the lives of Indigenous people and capacity to challenge the interlocking systems that perpetuate racism. Indigenous scholars lead the investigation of racism, its history, how it deems some groups inferior and dispossesses them of land and resources, and how it is normalized in our communities and classrooms. Teachers prepared with this knowledge are better able to teach their students how to recognize and disrupt inequities, with better outcomes for all students.

When Indigenous scholars are at university tables, everyone benefits from their knowledge, values, and experiences. Respect for their ways of knowing can foster deeper understandings of what matters in life and reveal how to support the health and safety of all beings. Universities are introduced to knowledge systems quite different from the ones upon which they were founded, knowledge systems that offer constructive and sustainable ways of being in the world with value to all disciplines.