Lawyer says residential school denialism should be added to Criminal Code
Eleanore Sunchild argues residential school denialism equivalent to Holocaust denialism
Warning: this story contains distressing details.
A high-profile Cree lawyer from Saskatchewan is calling for residential school denialism to be added to the Criminal Code alongside Holocaust denialism, in the wake of a recent interim report by Canada's special interlocutor on missing children and unmarked graves.
"It's the same," lawyer Eleanore Sunchild told CBC News.
"If you deny that that happened — if you deny the whole residential school system and its impact on Indigenous people and the trauma that was created from those schools and the deaths — then, of course, it should be seen as hate speech."
Under section 319 of the criminal code, the wilful promotion of hatred or antisemitism, unless in a private conversation, could lead to up to two years in prison. This includes "condoning, denying or downplaying the Holocaust."
Sunchild — who has represented countless residential school survivors and, most notably, Colton Boushie's family during the controversial Gerald Stanley trial — said interlocutor Kimberly Murray's report made it clear more must to be done to address denialism.
"There needs to be consequences for people who are promoting hatred," Sunchild said.
Murray's interim report detailed denialism and other challenges that remain for Indigenous families and communities trying to search for unmarked graves.
As an example, she listed how residential school deniers tried to dig up suspected unmarked grave sites at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, not believing a May 2021 announcement from the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc that as many as 215 Indigenous children had been buried there.
"Denialism is violence. Denialism is calculated. Denialism is harmful. Denialism is hate," Murray said in a news conference last Friday.
"Denialism is a non-Indigenous problem and therefore it's for non-Indigenous people to address it."
Last week, federal Justice Minister David Lametti said he was open to outlawing residential school denialism with criminal and civil measures similar to those used to punish people who deny, minimize or condone the Holocaust.
"I just simply can't imagine the devastating impact that it would have on a survivor — or on a family or a community that has seen this directly," Lametti said Friday.
"I pledge to do my best here."
Online misinformation likely a factor: professor
Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand said he found the rise in residential school denialism mentioned in the report concerning but not surprising.
"Every day people tell us, 'Get over it now. It's over.' People don't realize the pain and suffering our people went through," he said.
"It's a problem we've got to address and we've got to use it as an educational tool."
Leta Kingfisher, an assistant professor of Indigenous studies at the First Nations University of Canada, agreed that education is key to fighting denialism, but said it won't be easy.
Having taught Indigenous studies for more than two decades, Kingfisher said she's noticed more of her students in recent years disregarding her teachings about residential schools.
"It's a growing sentiment from non-Indigenous students of, 'Enough already. We've heard it,'" she explained.
Kingfisher suspects misinformation online is partly to blame for what she calls "a humanity disconnect."
She emphasized that the preservation of documents — such as the confidential records of residential school survivors' applications and testimonies from the Independent Assessment Process — is also critical for fact-checking the naysayers.
"We need documents for the deniers. It's not apparently enough that the buildings are there. It's not enough that there are pictures — that there's documentation and proof that resulted in settlements," Kingfisher said.
"I'm not sure what else can be done."
According to the interlocutor's interim report, the Supreme Court of Canada has ordered these records be destroyed in September 2027, "unless survivors opt to preserve them for historical, public education and research purposes at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation."
In the meantime, Kingfisher said denialism hurts Indigenous families.
"Sometimes, it gets overwhelming — the capabilities of people to completely disengage from their behaviours and their impact on strangers and why that isn't being questioned," she said.
"It's just a continuation of dehumanization of Indigenous peoples."
A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counselling and crisis support is 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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With files from Dan Zakreski and Moira Wyton