The push to outlaw 'residential school denialism' continues

The Canadian Press / Justin Tang

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A special interlocutor appointed by the Liberals says Indigenous leaders want Canada to move on criminalizing residential school denialism and has written recommendations for the same.

In her interim report, Kimberly Murray, the former executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada and current Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves at former residential schools, is encouraging lawmakers to consider "legal mechanisms" to address the "minimizing" and "denialism" of abuse against Indigenous children who attended residential schools.

While her interim report was released in June, its recommendations gained new attention after a more recent Canadian Press article published that a spokesperson for Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani claims he is "considering the options" raised by Murray.

Criminalizing residential school “denialism” may be a good idea.
Otherwise all MPs are going to look stupid for their motion last year (Oct. 27) to call the schools a genocide.https://t.co/kDEt8FXrGZ via @cp24

— Jim McMurtry (@JimMcMurtry01) November 27, 2023

According to the Canadian Press, Murray suggested amending the Criminal Code to criminalize residential school denialism, adding that "Ottawa did so last year on the issue of Holocaust denialism."

While the terms "denialism" and "minimizing" were never clearly defined, Murray claims that everyone in Indigenous leadership wants to see such an amendment take place.

Murray further claims that there is a troubling rise in denialism regarding what former residential school students and their communities claim about children going missing or dying at such institutions, as well as unmarked graves.

The truth found in our documentary about the “discovery” of 215 buried children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School is now free for you to watch and share 👇🏾 https://t.co/zZ3vKsbQaO

— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) September 2, 2023

Despite Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc backpedaling on their sensational claim to have discovered "the remains of 215 children" in unmarked graves to now "200 probable gravesites" they've yet to uncover, or other sites with oral testimony of residential school survivors supporting the belief that there were missing Indigenous children buried in unmarked graves, excavations finding no bodies lead Murray to blame the government for a rise in what she calls residential school denialism.

In a September interview with APTN News, Murray stated that, "During the truth and reconciliation process, many of the provinces and territories started to implement curriculum on Indian residential schools, and then we see changes in government," adding that's when "we saw the curriculum being pulled back, and now we see a rise in denialism."