The RCMP's eight-year investigation into B.C. residential schools confirms no evidence of murders or clandestine burials, according to the Real Indigenous Report. However, 14 men were arrested and faced charges for other abuses investigated by a 1995 task force.

Calvin Swustus, a 17-year veteran of the Vancouver Island RCMP and a task force member, was satisfied that the investigations led to arrests, charges, and convictions, despite being flawed. “I feel good that some people were arrested, charged and convicted.”

Only two allegations of murders were received, which the RCMP investigators found to be baseless, as well as one allegation surrounding clandestine burials, also unsubstantiated.

Keavin Amyot, a convicted child sexual predator, confessed to sexually assaulting a St. Mary’s Indian Residential School survivor in 1997, calling himself a “monster” and a pedophile, according to the Investigative Journalism Foundation.

Further charges were recommended in 2002 after a second victim emerged, but Amyot died before approval.

Efforts led to charges against 14 men; however, only eight of these were directly linked to the team's work after its formation. During its tenure, the team gathered over 4,000 tips, leading to 974 criminal allegations against 129 individuals.

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The task force comprised of four E Division major crimes members and 15 regional investigators experienced in sexual assault cases and First Nations communities.

However, the RCMP report discredited horrific claims by B.C. Indian Bands, particularly the Kamloops Band's false claim of discovering “the remains of 215 children” on May 27, 2021. The investigation found no evidence of murders or unmarked burials and received few complaints.

“This was one of the largest residential schools in B.C. with a student enrollment of over 400 pupils between 1952 and the late 1960s. . . . Despite the size of the student body, the number of complaints received was relatively small; only 79 complainants came forward throughout the entire eight year investigation,” reads the report. 

Former United Church Minister Kevin Annett alleged Reverend Caldwell pushed a young girl, Maisie Shaw, down stairs at the Alberni Indian Residential School, leading to her death and a cover-up. However, an extensive investigation confirmed that 14-year-old Shaw died in Port Alberni hospital from “acute rheumatic pericarditis,” a familial heart ailment, after an eight-day hospitalization.

Despite reports by Annett, investigators also found no record of 14-year-old Albert Gray, who was allegedly beaten to death at the Ahousat Indian Residential School around 1939-1940. However, family interviews confirm Albert Gray died of pneumonia or tuberculosis around 1940, months after leaving the school.

Annett, removed from ministry in 1997, has a long history of fabricating conspiracy theories. His so-called “International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State” and “International Common Law Court of Justice” are not legally recognized bodies, but inventions he uses to push false claims like the debunked story that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were found guilty in the disappearance of Indigenous children.

Allegations at some schools included infant deaths, often stillborns buried in unmarked graves. More disturbing claims involved a baby deliberately killed post-birth and buried in a basement, and even a satanic ritual sacrifice in the woods. No evidence supported these allegations.

The task force received only one allegation of clandestine burials, at Kuper Island (now Penelakut Island), which excavation by the RCMP proved to be unsubstantiated.

On February 24, 1999, a task force investigated long-standing rumours of buried babies at Kuper Island Indian Residential School. With permission, they excavated a suspected burial ground to four feet, finding undisturbed soil. 

While no evidence supported the claims, forensic experts noted the wet soil would have destroyed any infant remains years prior. Investigations were difficult due to the age of the incidents (over 60 years ago), a lack of records, and the death of almost everyone involved.

Cabinet allocated $238.8 million in 2022 to find, document, and commemorate unmarked burial sites. The fund, extended to March 31, 2026, has paid out $246.7 million. Requests from First Nations now total $704.3 million, according to Blacklock’s.