Exploring Theme: "Residential School Denialism"

NDP member of Parliament Leah Gazan, second from right, is joined by Special Interlocutor Kimberly Murray, right, and Indian Residential School survivors during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2024. They are calling on the Government of Canada to recognize residential school denialism as inciting hate in the Criminal...

Proposed wording change attempted to ‘turn down the volume on [the] truth,’ one lawyer said CBC Indigenous: A recent request to change the wording in a mandatory Indigenous intercultural course for lawyers in British Columbia led to a debate over whether the changes amounted to residential school denialism.  Victoria-based criminal defence lawyer Jim Heller submitted a resolution to...

NationTalk: Okanagan syilx Territory, Westbank BC: The BC First Nations Justice Council (BCFNJC) denounces and strongly opposes a resolution that has been put forward by two Law Society of British Columbia (Law Society) members for consideration at the upcoming 2024 Law Society Annual General Meeting. The resolution contains alarming Residential School denialism, calling for the...

Reconciliation, the quest to repair the relationship with Indigenous peoples, isn’t a “woke” fantasy. By Paul Racher NationTalk: The Hamilton Spectator – Recent articles in some corners of the Canadian media landscape have made much of the fact that the number of suspected graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School has been revised downward. Indeed,...

In Powell River, a debate over a name change is prompting darker claims. The Tyee: In a packed room at the Powell River Public Library, Frances Widdowson is warning about “wokeism.” She accuses two city councillors of destroying democracy in the town, proclaims that trans people don’t actually exist and complains that no one except...

How to identify it, and how to push back against dangerous false claims. The Tyee: The Conversation – In 2021, three short years ago, #CancelCanadaDay was trending on social media following announcements about thousands of unmarked graves at the former sites of Indian Residential Schools across Canada.  Today, research is expanding on the history of child institutionalization...

Council members hope to heal the city’s relationship with First Nations after allegations Ron Paull promoted a book containing disinformation. https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/tyee/quesnel-mayor-resists-calls-for-resignation-over-residential-school-denialism [Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of residential schools and residential school denialism. It may be triggering to some readers.] THERE IS HELP If you need support, call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society...

Lhtako Dene Nation leader calls Grave Error book ‘absolute bigotry and hatred’ CBC Indigenous: The Canadian Press – Quesnel’s city council voted unanimously to denounce a book the Lhtako Dene Nation says downplays the harms of residential schools, after the First Nation and councillors raised concerns the mayor’s wife was distributing it to residents in the city about 630...

And how to confront it. Because without the truth, there can be no reconciliation. The Tyee: May 27, 2023 marked the two-year anniversary of the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc’s announcement about the location of 215 potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in the Interior of British Columbia. In recognition of the anniversary,...