On August 12, 2024, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) sent out a letter to B.C. municipalities, with five being singled out (Powell River, Sechelt, Quesnel, West Vancouver and Kamloops). The letter attached one of UBCIC’s resolutions, made on June 10-11, 2024, about the “Rejection of Residential School Racist Denialism”.
On the Agenda for the Powell River City Council meeting for September 12, 2024 is a “Recommendation” proposed in “New Business” by Councillor Rob Southcott. In this, Councillor Southcott recommends that “Council acknowledge and support the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs Council Resolution 2024-33” provided above.
If councillors support Councillor Southcott’s recommendation, do they agree with the statements of the UBCIC’s Resolution 2024-33? If so, they should be able to answer the following nine questions.
- Have the “likely remains of children who were forced to attend former Residential Schools across Canada in unmarked graves…provided evidence of state-sanctioned genocide”? How can finding “likely remains” be “evidence of state-sanctioned genocide”?
2. Does the book Grave Error “[question the] very existence [of residential schools] and well-documented harms against indigenous peoples”? How does its distribution “perpetuate racist attitudes that uphold white supremacy…”?
3. Are the arguments in Grave Error similar to Holocaust denialism? How does Grave Error perpetuate stereotypes and hateful beliefs?
4. Were 150,000 children “forced to attend Residential Schools”? Who are the “missing children” in “unmarked graves”?
5. Should “immediate funding” be provided to “protect the remains of children found buried at the Kamloops Indian Residential School”? What are the “remains of children found buried” that need “funding” so that they can be “protected”?
6. What are the “ongoing recoveries of missing and unidentified Indigenous children at former Residential School sites”?
7. What is the “racist misinformation put forward by the authors of Grave Error” that is being “perpetuated by members of the public and elected officials”?
8. How have the “actions of those involved with the production and distribution of the book Grave Error” indicated “racist denialism” and the “unwillingness to accept historical fact and the work of experts”?
9. Who are the “missing children” that “sustainable long-term funding” is needed to “identify”? What are the “racist” elements of what is referred to as “Residential School racist denialism”?
It is astonishing how quick municipal councils are to endorse absurd claims. It is also frightening to watch the zeal with which councilors dismiss sources of information, that if considered, could help a true reconciliation between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Just to learn that a District of Sechelt Councilor is comparing Mein Kampf to Grave Error indicates the depth to which ignorance is being promoted. How can the desire of the Indigenous people of Canada to improve their lot be served by Indigenous leadership that perpetuates misinformation? There is a vital need for the two sides to approach each other with open minds so that the country can move past the grievance narratives that are stifling reconciliation.
Larry Dyke
North Vancouver