An NDP MP has introduced a bill that would criminalize residential school denialism, saying it would help stop harm caused toward survivors, their families and communities.
The chances the bill actually will be debated and pass into law are slim without it being adopted as a government bill by the Liberals.
The private member鈥檚 bill proposes that someone could be charged under the Criminal Code for promoting hatred against Indigenous Peoples by condoning, justifying or downplaying the historical and lasting impact of residential schools.
Manitoba NDP MP Leah Gazan says the purpose of residential schools was to extinguish Indigenous cultures and languages and if the government is serious about reconciliation, it must protect survivors and their families from hate.
鈥淭he residential school system was a genocide designed to wipe out Indigenous cultures, languages, families and heritage. To downplay, deny or justify it is cruel, harmful and hateful. This should have no place in Canada,鈥� she said.
More than 150,000 children were forced to attend residential schools, with many survivors detailing to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission the abuse they suffered at the hands of those meant to protect them. The last school closed in 1996.
An estimated 6,000 children died in the schools, though experts say the actual number could be much higher.
Gazan says families deserve to heal from this 鈥渋ntergenerational tragedy,鈥� and that parliamentarians must stand firm against people who try to discredit the stories of survivors.
The bill proposes that anyone who, other than in private, promotes hatred against Indigenous Peoples by 鈥渃ondoning, denying, downplaying or justifying the Indian residential school system in Canada or by misrepresenting facts related to it鈥� could be subject to a maximum of two years in jail.
The bill includes some defences, including if the statements were true, if they are relevant to public interest, if they were intended to point out hatred toward Indigenous Peoples or if it is a religious opinion.
Canada鈥檚 special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves, Kimberly Murray, has long called for government intervention to stem the tide of what she calls residential school denialism.
In a report last year, she wrote about increasing attacks from 鈥渄enialists鈥� who challenge communities when they announce the discovery of possible unmarked graves.
鈥淭his violence is prolific,鈥� the report said. 鈥淎nd takes place via email, telephone, social media, op-eds and, at times, through in-person confrontations.鈥�
Murray listed several examples, including after the May 2021 announcement by the Tk鈥檈mlups te Secwepemc Nation that ground-penetrating radar had discovered what are believed to be 215 unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The findings garnered international media attention and triggered an outpouring of grief, shock and anger from across the country, both in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
Murray said in her report that on top of dealing with an onslaught of media attention, the First Nation in British Columbia had to deal with people entering the site itself.
鈥淪ome came in the middle of the night, carrying shovels; they said they wanted to 鈥榮ee for themselves鈥� if children are buried there. Denialists also attacked the community on social media.鈥�
Gazan put forward a motion in the House of Commons last year that recognized residential school systems were an act of genocide. The motion was passed unanimously by all parties.
Gazan, speaking in the House of Commons Thursday, called her private member鈥檚 bill a gift in honour of Orange Shirt Day 鈥� a day held on Sept. 30 to remember and honour the children who never made it home from residential school.
鈥淢ay you find justice and healing in the protection of your stories,鈥� she said.
