Divisions over residential school facts erupt inside B.C. Conservative caucus meeting
In a video, Conservative MLA Dallas Brodie criticized some of her colleagues, saying they belong in the NDP
A meeting of the B.C. Conservative caucus devolved into a shouting match Thursday, exposing more divisions within the Official Opposition over the history of residential schools.
Things got so heated, some MLAs stormed out, several people inside the meeting told CBC News.
One of the MLAs who left abruptly was Conservative attorney general critic Dallas Brodie, who made comments in a YouTube video posted earlier this week that upset some of her colleagues.
In it, Brodie slammed Conservative House leader A'aliya Warbus, saying she's aligned with the NDP.
Warbus, a member of the Sto:lo Nation and the MLA for Chilliwack-Cultus Lake, criticized Brodie last month over a social media post she made about the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, which First Nations leaders said amounted to residential school denialism.
Brodie wrote: "The number of confirmed child burials at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site is zero. Zero. No one should be afraid of the truth. Not lawyers, their governing bodies or anyone else."
According to Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc, preliminary findings from a 2021 ground-penetrating radar survey indicated the remains of approximately 200 people could be buried at the site. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation estimates about 4,100 children died at Canadian residential schools, based on death records, but has said the true total is likely much higher.
In response to Brodie's claim, Warbus said on social media: "Questioning the narratives of people who lived and survived these atrocities, is nothing but harmful and taking us backward in reconciliation."
Earlier this week, Brodie called out Warbus and some other Conservative colleagues in a YouTube video discussion hosted by Frances Widdowson, a former Mount Royal University professor who came under fire for saying that there were educational benefits to Canada's residential school system.
Speaking in the video, Brodie told Widdowson that "the most vociferous hatred" she's received in response to her social media post has been from within her own party.
"There's a person in our party who is Indigenous and she was super angry and went to town and joined the NDP to call me out. We've actually brought in some people who — I'm just going to say this — belong in the NDP."
Warbus told reporters Thursday that Brodie is causing a distraction for the party, in the midst of a trade war, record budget deficit and the opioid crisis, which disproportionately affects Indigenous people.
"It's causing division, we need to address the divisions within the caucus and get on the same page as a team. If we cannot do that then I do not know why I came here," Warbus said.
After Brodie left the caucus meeting, attended by all 44 Conservative MLAs, she skipped question period. She declined to be interviewed by reporters on her way out of the caucus room.
Walter Mineault, president of the Métis Nation of B.C. reached out to CBC News to express his disappointment in Brodie's video comments.
Mineault said he met with Brodie last week and expressed to her the hurt and harm that were caused by her social media post last month.
He said Brodie, the MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena, eventually apologized and pledged to repair the relationship.
Mineault's grandparents attended residential schools and his parents attended day school.
"I'd like to state to Rustad and his party how hurtful these comments are to all our people," Mineault said. He called on Brodie to be removed from the Conservative caucus.
Premier David Eby said B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad needs to draw the line on what's acceptable within his party.
"A big tent that has space for racism is not a political tent, that's a circus tent," Eby said at an unrelated news conference. "And he's gotta kick the clown out of the tent."
Rustad would not say if he will kick Brodie out of caucus.
"That's something I'm not prepared to discuss at this point," he told reporters.
Rustad again insisted that some divisions are inevitable within a big tent party.
However, the dust up between right-leaning Conservative MLAs and more centrist ones is just the latest example of party divisions spilling out into the public eye.
A national 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available at 1-866-925-4419 for emotional and crisis referral services for survivors and those affected.
Mental health counselling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.
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