Canada Day Reflections: When “Good Ideas” Turn Out to Be Horrible

Be Careful With Your Opinions: What If We Got It All Wrong?

This post touches on some difficult parts of Canada’s history — including residential schools — alongside reflections on personal growth, hindsight, and the beliefs we hold today. I’ve written it from a place of reflection, not judgment. My goal isn’t to provoke, but to invite perspective and compassion — for ourselves, for others, and for the country we call home. Thank you for reading with an open heart.

What if we’re wrong?

There was a time when people believed residential schools were a good idea.

Not everyone, of course — but enough people did. Enough to create a system so deeply damaging, it left scars still felt today. Reconciliation doesn’t “fix” the loss, at best, it may eventually give it a place. There was also a time when Canada thought clubbing baby seals to death was considered perfectly normal. These were decisions actively made by people who, in their time, may have truly believed they were doing something right.