Power Quotes from our Panelists

Doug Cuthand, Journalist:

• “There is definitely change coming. And it is coming right now.”
• “You have to look back generations, and look forward generations.” 
• “Have a province that values multiculturalism.”
• "Indigenous peoples’ pipeline protests remind us that land is spiritual, not just commercial; First Nations have a deep connection to their land as a source of cultural identity and play an important role as environmentalists." (paraphrase)

Rob Currie, Ministry of Education:

• “We need them to be global thinkers. We need them to think outside the borders of SK. We need them to be problem solvers.”
• “Given our world, and given our past…. We have to be inclusive thinkers… be welcoming to thoughts different from ours”
• “We must have the will to resist the status quo and an ever changing world to realize change”
• “Regardless of the path you choose you will be required to be a problem solver, so think critically, analyze, and ask questions”
• “We need to have a curriculum that responds to changes”

Heather Fenyes, Co-Founder of Think Good, Do Good:

• “Our province experienced a staggering shift in demographics . We haven’t scaffolded the ability to truly understand “the other.”
• “We can’t let Canadian political correctness mask racism.”
• “Citizenship education is the key to structural integrity.”
• “Watching social media i am afraid….. Only education has the ability to change it”
• “We all require cultural sensitivity to understand racism”
• “Only education has the power to change racist, misogynistic lexicon”

Gordon Martel, Educator:

• “How do we address, not only apology, but redemption? … Fix what’s broken together… start to undo the tangled web of bias and racism”
• “We need to pay attention to social and economic egalitarianism.” 
• “We need a more deliberate education mandate and a greater articulation of the proposition for interracial harmony.”

Chief Clive Weighill, Saskatoon Police Service:

• “We have to admit that there is racism and issues in our society"
• “Sometimes change doesn't come fast. But we have to keep speaking about it”
• “(Aboriginal girls/ women are) accepting, maybe subconsciously, that it’s okay to be victimized… this is how insidious marginalization is.”
• “The anonymity of social media is killing us”

Brenda Green, Educator:

• “When we think about that future space… we have to understand that everyone is coded.”
• ”I think we do have the opportunity to have it right”
• “Education was and still can be, a tool of assimilation.”
• “What I would like as an indigenous person is equity- in the sense of access, to do what one wants to do without barriers”

Dr. Fern Stockdale Winder, Clinical Psychologist:

• “We really need to get to know each other better.Through relationships we can understand each other better”
• “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way and on a quiet day I can hear her breathing”
• “‘You are so lucky to be a white girl.’ I didn’t understand that as a little girl”
• “That color of my skin should not leave me lucky or unlucky, but with equal opportunities”
• “Recognizing co healing is already present”

Corey O'Soup, Advocate for Children and Youth:

• “Our children will be the ones teaching us in the future how should we live together”
• “We all know that education is truly the key”
• “I envision a future where a First Nation or Metis Prime Minister is leading our country”
• “Someone has to educate our leaders, they have certain biases as well”
• “Talk to a young person and ask them about their future and the future of Saskatchewan.  They may some weird things, but don't disregard those. Listen to them and think about the context they are coming from.”