Canada’s silence at the UN exposes a buried history of slavery at home

In a chamber built for diplomacy, the question before member states was direct. Would they recognize the transatlantic slave trade for what it was, one of the gravest crimes against humanity, to begin to finally confront what it left behind?  When the vote was called at the United Nations General Assembly, Canada withheld taking a position. Adopted on March 25, the International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, a UN resolution spearheaded by Ghana and backed by the African Union, called for reparatory justice, including apology, restitution, compens…