B.C. Conservative MLA refutes charge of residential school denialism

Katie DeRosa · CBC News

· Posted: Feb 24, 2025 9:26 PM EST | Last Updated: February 26

A B.C. Conservative MLA has refused her leader's petition to instrumentality down a societal media station that critics accidental amounts to residential schoolhouse denialism — a complaint Official Opposition lawyer wide professional Dallas Brodie refutes. 

Brodie is facing backlash for a post on X.

"The fig of confirmed kid burials astatine the erstwhile Kamloops Indian Residential School tract is zero. Zero. No 1 should beryllium acrophobic of the truth. Not lawyers, their governing bodies oregon anyone else." 

Brodie, a lawyer, was coming to the defence of different lawyer, James Heller. 

Last year, Heller pushed the Law Society of B.C. to alteration its grooming worldly to accidental determination were "potentially" burial sites astatine the erstwhile residential schoolhouse successful Kamloops —  instead of much definitive language.

Heller is suing the nine for what helium calls "false and defamatory" allegations of racism.

Brodie says she's not denying what happened astatine residential schools. 

"The basal I'm taking is rooted successful the request for truth. And I don't deliberation lasting for information takes distant thing from the severity of what happened astatine the residential schools," she told reporters successful the legislature Monday. "I'm a lawyer. I judge successful evidence, information and pursuit of truth, and I deliberation lawyers should beryllium allowed to inquire questions." 

WATCH | MLA Dallas Brodie called retired implicit residential schoolhouse post: 

However, Brodie's Conservative colleague, A'aliyah Warbus, a subordinate of the Sto:lo Nation and the party's House leader, said connected societal media: 

"Inform yourself, get the latest facts, research, AND speech to survivors. Questioning the narratives of radical who lived and survived these atrocities, is thing but harmful and taking america backward successful reconciliation."

Conservative Leader John Rustad said helium asked Brodie to instrumentality down the post. She's refused.

"When the tweet was archetypal enactment up, I was acrophobic it whitethorn beryllium misinterpreted arsenic opposed to being astir the information that determination haven't been immoderate graves ... oregon immoderate bodies astatine that peculiar tract exhumed oregon found, versus the full contented of the residential schools," Rustad said. "I asked her to instrumentality [the post] down due to the fact that of that concern." 

Rustad says determination is nary denying the horrors of residential schools. 

"[Children] went to school. They were taken from their families, and much than 4,000 children did not instrumentality home. Those children died successful residential schools."

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs says Brodie's comments origin symptom to residential schoolhouse survivors and their families. 

"I find specified remarks to beryllium perfectly disgusting, repugnant and ugly," helium said. 

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma says during her instrumentality career, she worked with residential schoolhouse survivors, who person fought hard for decades to person their information recognized.

"It's been a agelong and achy travel to those people," Sharma said. "I'm disappointed that her archetypal question to maine arsenic professional would beryllium based connected a signifier of denialism of residential schools.

WATCH | Former residential schoolhouse present a historical site: 

Sean Carleton, an Indigenous Studies prof astatine the University of Manitoba, said residential schoolhouse denialism is not conscionable denying that residential schools existed, but involves a "strategy to effort and shingle nationalist assurance successful established information by minimizing, downplaying and twisting facts… to shingle nationalist assurance successful the truth."

Carleton is acrophobic that immoderate politicians are utilizing specified statements arsenic a wedge issue. 

"If they tin delegitimize Kamloops, past they tin delegitimize the full residential schoolhouse narrative," helium said. 

In May 2021, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said crushed penetrating radar provided "confirmation of the remains of 215 children" astatine the schoolhouse site, but revised its connection successful July 2021 to picture the uncovering arsenic "potential burial sites." The First Nation changed the wording past twelvemonth to "anomalies." 

Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir was not disposable for remark Monday. 

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has documented that astatine slightest 4,118 children died astatine residential schools.

It said much than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to be the schools, the past of which closed successful 1996.