It's become increasingly obvious that the face of Canada emerging from the first census of the 21st century is multicoloured, multiethnic and multicultural. That's cause for celebration, particularly for Christians who can see God bringing the mission field right to our door.
The latest 2001 census data shows that our immigrant (born outside Canada) population numbers 5.4 million people, or 18.4 per cent of the total population-the highest percentage in 60 years. As well, the number of Canadians who are visible minorities-almost 4 million -has increased threefold since 1981.
I find it disturbing and ironic that Statistics Canada chose to release data on Canada's aboriginal peoples together with the numbers on immigrants-disturbing because it implies our First Nations peoples are just another "minority" group; ironic because immigration is at the root of the misery inflicted on Canada's aboriginals.
Let us understand that Canada's Native peoples were here before European colonizers. They are not simply another ethnic group. Not giving aboriginal peoples their rightful place as the original peoples of Canada is at the core of the troubles between aboriginals and non-aboriginals.
Let's also understand that the misery plaguing our Native peoples has at its root what our immigrant ancestors did in "opening the West" and building this country. And let us not forget also that the "white man's religion" is part of the equation here.
Yet I sense a great unease in our pews about the grievances of our First Nations. It has been gut wrenching to see the lawsuits filled against the Roman Catholic, Anglican, United and Presbyterian churches for their roles in the residential schools.
But beyond the financial implications, the fact that mostly white Christians tried to remake aboriginals into an image of themselves rather than God is something that few Christians seem to want to hear.
Some Christian leaders, especially among evangelical Christians, seem to be much more concerned with guarding against "pagan" influences or the syncretistic tendencies of some church groups attempting to right the wrongs of the past than with righting the wrongs themselves.
No one wants to see a counterfeit gospel preached to aboriginals, least of all Native Christian leaders working to apply the true gospel to the reality of Native life. But the fact is that aboriginals are among the most hurting peoples in this country to which Christians can minister to-and the gospel must be preached within Native contexts.
Drug and alcohol addictions and suicides among young are destroying whole native communities across Canada. The homelessness of many aboriginal peoples in the streets of our large cities-how many times must I trip over the same homeless aboriginal man on my way to my office in the heart of Toronto's financial district before I really care-is a national disgrace.
Some Christians might wish us to go back to looking at aboriginals much in the same way as John Wesley did as he set off from England with missionary zeal to convert the "noble savages" of the American South. Yet Wesley quickly found out that aboriginals aren't simply converts-in-waiting.
Michael Peers, the head of the Anglican Church of Canada, has admitted his own sense of "shame and humiliation" at the "suffering inflicted by my people" on aboriginals. He's lamented that Christians have "tried to remake you in our image, taking from you your language, and the signs of your identity."
Are more Christians ready to follow this example of repentance when it comes to our Native peoples? Aboriginals number less than a million people in Canada today, yet it's a young and growing people group. They need the balm of Christ to heal, and healing begins in repentance-on our knees.
Joe Couto is a government and communications professional working on Bay Street in Toronto. Born in Brazil and raised in Canada, Joe is a keen observer of the church in Canada who formerly served as communications manager for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and is a frequent contributor to ChristianWeek. This is the fifth in nine-part series.
