OTTAWA — The Carney government is moving forward with a federally funded campaign to counter residential school denialism, even though Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty have both expressed their opposition to the idea of making denialism a criminal offence.Ottawa has committed $5M over three years (starting in 2025-26) to a national public education initiative designed to combat misinformation regarding Canada's former residential school system.The funding was originally announced in the 2024 Budget under the former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and is still part of the federal government's approach to reconciliation.In September, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty confirmed that Ottawa was still in the process of finalizing the partnerships and delivery arrangements for the program."A national public education initiative (backed by the $5 million in investment announced in Budget 2024) will build on this work by reinforcing the historical record, enhancing public understanding and directly tackling the spread of misinformation and denialist narratives," said Alty.The funding is coming at a time when there is disagreement as to whether residential school denialism should be prosecutable under Canada's hate speech laws..Manitoba NDP Premier Wab Kinew said in October that he didn't support criminalising denialism, even as he condemned those who deny or downplay the history of the residential schools.I have a great deal of respect for MP Gazan, but I don't think we can criminalise that. That's what Kinew told CBC Manitoba.I think we just have to carry on with the work of educating people and trying to counter the misinformation.Kinew was responding to proposed legislation from federal NDP MP Leah Gazan, which would amend the Criminal Code to make it an offence to make certain public statements that would condone, deny, justify or minimise the residential school system.Gazan has argued that criminal penalties are an essential tool in order to protect survivors and their families from hatred and harassment.Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty also declined to support the proposed criminal sanctions when asked by reporters in Ottawa in September.."While I'll admit the opposition are taking a position and trying to move something forward, that's their position," Gull-Masty said, via The Canadian Press.We have to be led by the community to ensure that the decisions we make are genuinely ones that the community wants to receive in terms of support.Her comments came after a demonstration in Kamloops, B.C., where masked people were seen holding up a banner that questioned the reports of children being buried at former residential school sites.The incident received condemnation from First Nations leaders who called for more robust action against residential school denialism.Gull-Masty didn't commit to introducing any government legislation of the sort that Gazan's proposal would have been.The issue has also split the Indigenous leadership..The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs took issue with Kinew's position, and National Family and Survivors Circle president Hilda Anderson-Pyrz maintained that education on its own would not be sufficient to prevent further harm to residential school survivors.The federal government has separately allocated $5M in Budget 2026 to the NCTR for 2027-28.The centre welcomed the funding this week, stating it would support access to the historical records and the work that's still going on to identify and honour the children who died in the residential schools.However, the organization said the funding was purely temporary and reiterated its call for permanent federal funding.The debate comes as indigenous women's organizations have criticized Carney's latest budget for not providing adequate dedicated funding for women's safety and community services.On Thursday at Parliament Hill, NWAC president Josie Nepinak described the 2026 Budget as a missed opportunity.."Budget 2026 was a complete missed opportunity to make the safety and healing of indigenous women a sustained national priority," said Nepinak."At a time when governments are pouring money into the economy to achieve their economic objectives, we have to make sure that Indigenous women aren't an afterthought."Nepinak conceded to investments in housing, homelessness prevention and a range of other Indigenous programs, but maintained that women's safety was the area that needed to be the focus of greater attention."Investments in indigenous women must be viewed as investments in nation building," she said.The groups are also calling for progress on the 231 Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.The federal government's education initiative is still in the development stage, and no launch date has been confirmed in Alty's September statement.
