Canadian Comedian's Culturally Insensitive Joke Sparks Discussion

Last November, comedian Sophie Buddle drew the attention of many indigenous groups, when she made an inappropriate, disrespectful joke while doing her routine on Crave Television.

Valley TV Host Dana Foster speaks with Indigenous facilitator, Mandy Nahane, about her thoughts about the joke. In essence, the comedian joked that a Catholic friend wanted an abortion - not allowed by that faith. The comedian advised her friend, who wished to get rid of the growing fetus by saying, "Kill it, and bury it at a residential school."

"It was a like a stab to the gut", said Mandy, "As someone who is a mother and who has actually sat with residential survivors and heard their stories first hand, I cried with them. I held their hand while I heard their stories. I am actually the first generation out of residential school of my family, so I'm outraged...it's not funny. It's not entertaining, It's inappropriate," she added. She told a couple of the horrendous stories of survivors that she heard.

It was Indigenous artist Shaun Hedican, who publicly called out the comedian by posting her routine on his Instagram page. Hedican also wrote to Crave Canada. That led to a review of the program in question and as a result Crave said that they would temporally remove it from their schedule while they wait for a edited version, acknowledging the hurt the viewing the special had caused. 

After he posted the Helicon, Buddle wrote to Hedican saying that she felt that her joke was not promoting hate or racism and that she was simply trying to emphasize how callous the Catholic Church's actions were, adding that she was getting mean messages and comments. 

Host Dana Foster's conversation continued with Facilitator Mandy Nahanee and their discussion ranged over many aspects of the work that she does to create respect of the First Nations by the general population of Canada. Nahanee said that she was particularly incensed that the Canadian government has not created curriculum around the real history of Canada. She and other Indigenous people, she explained, our invited into schools to tell about residential schools, resulting in these guest speakers being re-traumatized again and again.

Mandy Nahane is an Entrepreneur. Her company is called Traditionelle She is a Mother of an eight month baby, who she acknowledges is the true CEO of her company.  She has been a facilitator since age 14 working to change attitudes about Canada's original peoples. She introduced herself fluently in the Squamish language, shared her Indigenous name and acknowledged the land on which she resides.