This morning I attended the BC Leadership Prayer Breakfast in Vancouver.
These events are a curious mix of faith, politics and networking.
The Premier of the province was there and spoke briefly; as did the Leader of the opposition, as did the Mayor of Vancouver.
The main speaker was to be Phil Fontaine, former Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Last night Fontaine was interviewed at a dinner associated with the breakfast event. He told his story of being in a residential school and of his role in the financial settlement from the Federal Government, and in the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 1990 Fontaine was interviewed by Barbara Frum for The National. That interview is largely seen as one of the very first places in which the abuse in residential schools was spoken about publicly. Unfortunately, between last night and this morning, Fontaine faced a medical situation and wound up in hospital. He could not speak this morning so Kathleen Mahoney, chief negotiator for the Assembly of First Nations filled in.
As mentioned, these events are always a curious mix. Sometimes some of the religious people in the room seem to want the events to be as Christian as possible. It is true that the name “Prayer Breakfast” is interesting given that most of what happens is not prayer, but everyone knows that by now. Sometimes the events are a kind of paying of homage to business and networking. There have been occasions when the speaker has been a “successful businessman” who awkwardly blends religion, business and civics into a strange kind of idolatry.
This year the event focused on reconciliation and the legacy of residential schools in Canada. Accepting that an event like this can feel at times disjointed in purpose, I found the content of the key interview to be inspiring and self-reflective for the faith community in larger society.
What role did we play in some of the most central injustices in Canadian history? How is it true that people who claim Christian faith were perpetrators of genocide (the word used by Pope Francis after his visit of reconciliation to Canada last year)?
Two moments stood out to me.
First, during a video clip of a documentary film, ForGive, on Phil Fontaine’s journey to the Vatican, he referred to his time in residential school and said that the abuse he suffered was most confusing because the perpetrators were, in his mind as a child, those closest to God.
The second moment was at the end of the event when Kathleen Mahoney (the lawyer for the AFN and now married to Phil Fontaine) thanked the people who attended the breakfast and said that these events are important to Phil. She got a bit emotional in saying that, events like this matter to him because the church still matters to him. The church she said, referring to the fact that Fontaine spent 10 years as a child in residential schools, is seen by Phil Fontaine as a parent. He does not excuse or deny the abuse he suffered, but he is still formed in life and faith and he still seeks blessing.
In the end, Mahoney and others presenting called upon the faith leaders at the breakfast to seek a better way forward for all people.
I am grateful to have been at the event. I am also mindful of how many gatherings like this politicians have to attend in the midst of all of their other work and in the midst of all of the complaints and competing interests that they navigate.
So, awkward yes - but hopeful as well, and this year, willing to ask some hard questions of the people in the room.