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The Trudeau government wants to reconcile the colonial treatments of Indigenous peoples at its national parks, starting with the heritage site in wildfire-ravaged Jasper.

Parks Canada must address its history of “colonial policies,” say the governing Liberals. They flagged 27 national parks for formal apologies, including the Jasper Indigenous Exhibit.

An Access to Information request by True North revealed documents showcasing these sites as “place-based apologies” for affected Indigenous peoples, as part of Measure 110 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). This measure calls for Parks Canada to recognize historical harms at heritage sites administered by the agency, with a commitment to redress past injustices.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada reported that approximately 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada.

The Jasper Indigenous Exhibit, an outdoor interpretive display near the Jasper Information Centre, was set to open on September 7 and 8. However, Parks Canada shut down the site owing to an out-of-control wildfire that burned for weeks.

While the exhibit was unscathed by the blaze, 30% of the town and some 32,722 hectares of land was torched. It resulted in $880 million in insurance-related damages. 

Despite the tragedy, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault remains committed to the apology campaign, the documents show. Dozens of parks have already been identified as future sites for the tour. 

A February 7, 2024, memo Parks Canada Guidance: Place-based Apologies and Redress reflects the federal government’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation. “Parks Canada and its predecessor organizations have had a long history of employing colonial policies and practices to establish protected heritage places with varying consequences for Indigenous peoples,” it said.

On May 18, the agency reopened the Bellevue House National Historic Site, the historic home of Canada’s first prime minister, with honorary “racism and sexism” tours.

The Unpacking Macdonald tour examines “social class structures, racism and sexism in Victorian Canada while looking closer at some of Sir John A Macdonald’s political decisions.” It refers to Bellevue House as “a place of contemplation on Canada’s colonial beginnings.”

Federal revision of tour content follows the 2021 removal of a Library and Archives Canada web feature First Among Equals that honoured Macdonald and his successors in a “celebration of Canada’s prime ministers.” 

Deletion of the web pages reflected a 2019 cabinet paper Framework For History And Commemoration that said official histories must address “colonialism, patriarchy and racism.”

Historica Canada later deleted a Heritage Minute featuring Macdonald, citing the residential school controversy.

“After nine years of Trudeau, woke censors and activists are trying to erase our history and tell Canadians they should not be proud of our great country,” said Rachael Thomas, the Conservative Party’s heritage critic. 

“Sir John A. Macdonald is one of the founders of our nation and our very first prime minister. His vision and leadership played a critical role in establishing our constitution on the principles of peace, order, and good government,” she notes. 

“These irrefutable facts cannot be erased.”