I was on the Canada Day episode of the ABA podcast

Nate Swick from the American Birding Association (ABA) asked me to join the ABA podcast for Canada Day. I was asked to take part alongside Jody Allair from Birds Canada and Jared Clarke from Newfoundland. We had a fun chat about the joys of birding in Canada. It was an honour and fun to take part. 

This Canada Day is a day of reflection for many due to the recent horrific discoveries of unmarked and mass graves of Indigenous children in Residential Schools across Canada. So far in Cranbrook, Kamloops, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and there will be more to come. Prime Minister Trudeau asked for the Canadian flag to be lowered to half mast today on Parliament Hill. The host made note of this before we began to talk about birding.

This day is one for us to celebrate the beautiful birds, animals and landscape from coast to coast, positive achievements of diverse Canadians, the resilience of Indigenous Peoples and the freedoms held in Canada. However, it is also a day of reflection and sadness for so many, especially for Indigenous Peoples. Canada, like other countries, has a complicated colonial history. Our history is stained with blood, from the slavery of Indigenous and Black People in Canada, to the inter-generational trauma, genocide and loss of life of thousands of Indigenous children at Residential Schools, to the many missing and murdered Indigenous women, to the present day anti-Black, Muslim and Asian hate and violence. Although systemic racism is still alive and well in Canada and is a lived reality for many Black, Indigenous and People of Colour; I hope Canadians will use this day to acknowledge and educate themselves about our oppressive past and present, so that we can move forward with change and true reconciliation to a more equitable, united and ultimately stronger future.

Thanks to Nate Swick for inviting me on and to Jody and Jared for being awesome co-guests.

If you want to take a listen to the podcast where we discuss birding across Canada, please click HERE or listen below:




Comments

  1. LonelytravellerJuly 1, 2021 at 9:46 AM

    Congrats look forward to listening to it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PacificnorthwestkateJuly 2, 2021 at 8:47 AM

    What a great episode Melissa - I really enjoyed it!! You speak so well - you should do more PodCasts!! And I didn’t know one of my fave birds nested at xxxx although I’ve seen one there once a long time ago - I must go back and look - but I’m not very good at spitting nests!! It’s was a great podcast to listen to on Canada day!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PacificnorthwestkateJuly 2, 2021 at 6:13 PM

      Spotting Nests :D

      Delete
    2. Melissa HaftingJuly 13, 2021 at 11:03 PM

      Thank you so much Kate for your kindness it means a lot! hope you find your fave bird nesting maybe i can take you one day :)

      Delete

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