Commentary Over the last six weeks or so, popular newspapers in Canada and around the world have been filled with reports and commentaries on the discovery of 215 graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School and an increasing number of graves at other residential school sites across the country. Here are…
Unmarked Residential School Graves: Pursuing the Truth Is of Utmost Importance
Erasing and Falsifying Canada’s History Is Jeopardizing the Underpinnings of Society: Historians
As the trend of removing symbols of Canada’s past and renaming buildings and streets grows, historians warn of the consequences of attempts to misrepresent or erase the country’s history. “If you control the past, you control the present and the future,” Gerry Bowler, a historian and former professor of history at the University of Manitoba told The…
Church Burnings Could Be Deemed Acts of Terrorism, Says Former CSIS Specialist
A former security intelligence specialist says the recent spate of fires that demolished or partially damaged churches across the country are likely deliberate, which could constitute acts of terrorism under Canadian criminal law. “As somebody who worked in counterterrorism in Canada for the better part of 15 years—I’ve written six books on the topic—a very…
Archives Canada Deletes ‘Offensive’ and ‘Redundant’ Historical Biographies of Former Prime Ministers
Historical biographies of former Canadian prime ministers have been deleted from the Library and Archives Canada website because they are “offensive” or “redundant” and don’t reflect the country’s modern-day diversity and multiculturalism. “The Prime Ministers of Canada” webpage, while still including photographs of prime ministers from John A. Macdonald in the late 1880s through to…
Residential School Abuses No Justification for Burning Catholic Churches
Commentary Burning a Roman Catholic church, or any church for that matter, is a hateful, criminal act. Nothing can excuse it. Nothing. I’m an indigenous Métis man. In The Pas, Manitoba, across the Saskatchewan River from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation territory, I took part in several sweat lodge ceremonies. I attended pow wows, wrote about…
Counter-Theme to Victimhood: Canada’s Indigenous Peoples Need Not Be Defined by Past Injustices
Commentary Following the announcement of 215 unmarked graves at a former Kamloops residential school in late May, the city of Victoria in B.C. announced the cancellation of its Canada Day celebrations. When an estimated 751 graves were then discovered at a former Saskatchewan residential school site, #CancelCanadaDay began to trend on Twitter. The activist group…
Residential Schools: Canada Confronted With Difficult Past
The difficult past and present of Canada’s indigenous peoples are once again in the spotlight after First Nations groups took it upon themselves to locate unmarked graves at two former residential school sites. The issue of missing children and unrecorded burials was the subject of Volume 4 of the 3,500-page Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report…
Ryerson Students Afraid to Speak Out Over Toppling of Statue, Fellow Student Says
Students at Ryerson University who are opposed to the recent toppling of a statue of the school’s namesake are afraid to speak out for fear of being shunned by peers or being targeted online, says a student at the school. Jonathan Bradley, a fourth-year journalism student at Ryerson, says other students have told him they’re…
‘I Didn’t Think Twice’: Woman Fulfills Late Sister’s Last Wish, Takes Care of Her 6 Children
A woman from Saskatoon, Canada, has honored her deceased sister’s last wish by taking all six of her children into her home. Rachel Smith, a mother of five and owner of Bannock Express Restaurant, took the kids in after her sister died of a seizure in late 2020, CBC News reported. Cheryl Kay had suffered multiple…
Alberta Premier Decries Cancel Culture as City Council Removes Statue of Canada’s First Prime Minister
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney decried the removal of the statue of Canada’s first prime minister on Tuesday. Kenney’s remarks came days after the remains of 215 children were found buried at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School for indigenous children in the province of British Columbia. The discovery prompted the Charlottetown city council…
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