FNLC Calls on Canada to Prioritize Legislation to Create Legal Protections against Residential School Denialism

March 20, 2025

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is deeply concerned by the rise of Residential School denialism in the province, particularly the egregious misuse of public office by elected officials using their platforms to sow public doubt and promote misinformation and anti-Indigenous racism. The FNLC calls for the government of Canada to prioritize implementation of federal legislation to protect against Residential School denialism, as has been done with Bill C-19 which criminalized Holocaust denialism in Canada.

First Nations leadership across B.C. have passed resolutions at the B.C. Assembly of First Nations and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs calling for the rights and testimony of survivors to be upheld, implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, rejection and criminalization of Residential School denialism, and denouncing recent comments made by then-Conservative MLA Dallas Brodie regarding unmarked graves and burial sites at the Kamloops Indian Residential School (UBCIC Resolution 2024-33; BCAFN #02/2025) A similar resolution will go forward to the next First Nations Summit meeting in April.

We commend MP Leah Gazan for introducing the Private Member’s Bill C-413 An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred against Indigenous peoples), which aimed to criminalize Residential School denialism, and hold individuals accountable for spreading hateful speech and misinformation about the Residential School system and Indigenous people. We feel strongly that legislation is needed to combat misinformation, denialism, and racism promoted by elected officials and hate groups. We urge the government of Canada to uphold its obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the principles of reconciliation, and urge all members of Parliament to work across party lines to make it an offence to promote hatred against Indigenous peoples by condoning, denying, downplaying, or justifying Residential Schools in Canada or misrepresenting related facts.

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