RCMP ribbon skirt initiative continues to draw mixed reviews
CBC
The national police force is expanding its ceremonial uniform dress code, adding ribbon skirts as an option for Indigenous women and two-spirit employees. It's a decision that has been met with a range of public feedback, from enthusiasm to criticism.
The RCMP announced the initiative on Wednesday with a photo featuring a headless Mountie wearing a ribbon skirt featuring the colours yellow, red, blue and white — meant to represent both the four directions and the RCMP colours.
The traditional skirts have different meanings for each person who wears them, but for many, the skirt is a symbol of resilience.
Knowledge Keeper and residential school survivor Judy Pelly was moved to tears when she saw the news. In 2020, Pelly's grand-daughter, Isabella Kulak, was shamed by a staff member at her school for wearing a ribbon skirt, an incident that garnered international attention.
Pelly said the RCMP ribbon skirt is a positive step forward to celebrating Indigenous women and reconciliation.
"It's so heartwarming," said Pelly, an Anishinaabe woman from Cote First Nation.
"[Ribbon skirts] mean a lot to us. They're our connection to Mother Earth, our connection to being the foundation of our communities, and also women stepping up and being proud of who they are."
Others doubt the RCMP's intentions are sincere.
"A lot of people out there are very upset because of the colonial history of the RCMP, what they've done to us as a people, and now here they are again, colonizing our identity, what we choose to wear," said Jessica Gordon, who is the director of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation for YWCA Canada and a member of the Pasqua First Nation.
Gordon said the RCMP is displaying the ribbon skirt initiative like an act of reconciliation, but she feels it is performative.
"Throwing a few ribbons on a skirt — it's not really getting to the root causes of colonialism and what they have to do to repair those relationships."
The RCMP said, in a written statement, that the ribbon skirt initiative came from the Women's Indigenous Network, which is an employee-led, force-wide network for RCMP Indigenous women and two-spirit employees.
But Gordon criticized the RCMP's approach to the uniform ribbon skirt, saying it lacks individuality and uniqueness.
"I think if [RCMP] want to show their Indigenous members that they want to hear them — and they want to be able to show their pride and who they are as Indigenous people — they should allow them to wear their own skirts made by themselves or their family members, something that means something to them," Gordon said.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.
Every year, snowy owls spread their wings and migrate down to the Prairies, where they enjoy access to plenty of rodent prey in vast open spaces.
This month has been a busy stretch at the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown.
N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland says she has received the final report from an independent investigation into education bodies in the Dehcho region.
P.E.I.’s auditor general says he’s concerned and disappointed that the projected deficit has doubled what government initially estimated it would be — and he's urging the province to balance its budget.
A man found not criminally responsible for stabbing five people to death at a Calgary house party is getting more freedoms but not an absolute discharge.
A man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a Toronto mother outside a supervised consumption site in Leslieville.
Russian olive trees — sometimes known as silver berry or oleaster — are small, ornamental plants with silvery leaves and black bark, and small yellow flowers and silver fruit that look like miniature olives. They’re pretty, but they’re a problem.
The Yukon Legislative Assembly’s fall sitting ended on Thursday after the territorial government introduced and passed a supplementary budget.
A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative, who stands accused of passing sensitive information to Ukraine, was involved in an investigation into allegations that a leading Canadian defence journalist was a longtime Russian asset.
An Alberta panel aimed at finding ways the province can strengthen its autonomy has offered up seven recommendations, including options for referendum topics.
People won't be able to travel along B.C.'s Highway 3 without significant delays and detours over the holiday season, says the Ministry of Transportation.