Residential school denialism: what is it and how to recognize it

Samantha Schwientek · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 7:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Residential schoolhouse denialism does not contradict the beingness of the schoolhouse system, but alternatively downplays, excuses oregon misrepresents facts astir the harms caused by it, experts say.

Earlier this month, B.C. MLA Dallas Brodie was kicked retired of the Conservative Party caucus aft she made a bid of comments questioning Indigenous people's experiences of residential schools.

In a station connected X, Brodie responded by saying she was simply speaking the truth. She has previously told CBC News she refutes claims that she has been engaging successful residential school denialism. 

However, experts, including historiographer Sean Carleton, accidental Brodie's comments are portion of the "predictable" and "rigorously debunked" arguments utilized often by residential schoolhouse deniers.

"I deliberation it's important to specify what residential schoolhouse denialism is not, which is the denial of the system's beingness oregon adjacent that the strategy had immoderate antagonistic effects. We don't spot a batch of that," said Carleton, who is besides an adjunct prof of Indigenous studies astatine the University of Manitoba.

Instead, helium said, denialism is "a strategy to twist, downplay, misrepresent, minimize residential schoolhouse truths successful favour of much arguable opinions that the strategy was well-intentioned."

He said denialism successful each forms — whether talking astir clime alteration oregon level Earth conspiracies — is "an effort to shingle nationalist assurance successful thing that we person statement about."

Sowing doubt

Patterns successful behaviour, Carleton said, tin assistance separate those who are asking questions successful bully religion from those who are trying to sow doubt. In Brodie's case, helium said determination were multiple instances wherever her comments failed to code the afloat world of residential schools. 

"If you telephone Brodie, for example, a denier, she'll say, 'But I'm not denying — this is the truth. The information is that they haven't recovered immoderate bodies yet,'" helium said.

"But past erstwhile you bash the homework and you look astatine the signifier of what she's doing … she's not really saying, 'Well, we cognize that 4,000 children person died successful that strategy [with] 50 confirmed astatine Kamloops.'"

WATCH | How bash experts specify denialism? 

Crystal Gail Fraser, who is Gwichyà Gwich'in and an subordinate prof successful past and Native studies astatine the University of Alberta, said she thinks astir residential schoolhouse denialism successful presumption of "little grey areas."

Like Carleton, she thinks it's important to enactment denialism is not astir saying residential schools ne'er happened. 

"[It's about] denying survivors' experiences, however they experienced their institutionalization arsenic a child, but besides the alleged intent of residential schools," she said. 

Fraser said she sees denialism when people suggest the residential school system had bully intentions, arsenic good arsenic erstwhile radical question the motives of survivors who stock their stories. 

She said denialism volition inactive beryllium adjacent aft each the facts astir residential schools are accepted. 

"The ideology of denialism is going to proceed beyond residential schools due to the fact that we inactive unrecorded successful a sociopolitical discourse that justifies colonialism," she said.

"In bid to interrupt the rejection of Indigenous knowledge, whether it's astir residential schools oregon thing else, we volition request immoderate benignant of a extremist translation successful society."

Discrediting survivors

Ry Moran, founding manager of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and subordinate assemblage librarian – reconciliation astatine the University of Victoria, said it's important to him that survivors are centred erstwhile reasoning astir denialism. 

Moran, who is Métis, said he defines IRS denialism "as the enactment oregon actions that question to diminish the truths shared by residential schoolhouse survivors."

"I deliberation 1 of the worst goals of denialism is to discredit the truths of residential schoolhouse survivors," helium said. 

Moran worked with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) gathering subsister grounds from thousands of people, and points retired that the TRC was conscionable 1 of respective efforts to papers the information astir residential schools, alongside the Royal Commission connected Aboriginal Peoples.  

"We person an inordinate magnitude of information connected what occurred wrong of the residential schools acknowledgment to each of these corporate efforts," helium said. 

"[Survivors] person been remarkably accordant successful everything that they person said. And clip and clip again … what we recovered successful the ground, what we recovered successful the archives, oregon what we recovered successful different sources has verified what they've told us."

Denialism, helium said, has been astir since the earliest days of the residential schoolhouse system; kids who ran distant and reported abuses were not believed oregon taken seriously, contempt the information that beatings and maltreatment were often witnessed by different students, Moran said. 

A crime?

Leah Gazan, MP for Winnipeg Centre, tabled a measure in Parliament past twelvemonth that would person amended the Criminal Code to criminalize residential schoolhouse denialism. 

Gazan's measure refers to "condoning, denying, downplaying" facts — identical connection to the law outlawing Holocaust denial — but adds "justifying the Indian residential schoolhouse strategy successful Canada oregon by misrepresenting facts relating to it."

"Indigenous radical person a close to beryllium protected from the incitement of hatred similar Holocaust denial," she said.

With an predetermination expected soon, Gazan's bill is improbable to determination forward. She said if she's re-elected, she volition bring the measure backmost to Parliament.