The British Columbia Assembly of First Nations has accused BC Conservative MLA Dallas Brodie of residential school "denialism" over a post she made regarding a lack of confirmed child burials at the site in Kamloops.
They urged party leader John Rustad to oust her from caucus, and publicly denounce her comments.
"Dallas Brodie's assertions are deeply harmful to the residential school survivors we see, love and support," the BCAFN board member Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir wrote in a statement.
"Her denialism of our histories undermines the reality of the profound trauma and cultural loss experienced by First Nations."
She pointed out that "the intention of those who operated the residential schools was rooted in the brutal erasure of our languages and identities," thus, "acknowledging the truth is necessary for healing and the reclamation of our languages, which are vital to our cultural heritages."
"At this time, we have become acutely aware of how our choice of words and language significantly shapes societal attitudes, influences perceptions, fosters understanding and either promotes healing or perpetuates divisions among groups of people," Regional Chief Terry Teegee added.
"It is critically important that we denounce hateful language, and political leaders must acknowledge the gravity of the traumas endured by First Nations communities."
He called on elected officials to "engage with First Nations and respectfully honour the memories of those lost, fostering a dialogue that supports reconciliation and recognizes the lasting impact of residential schools on our communities."
"The number of confirmed child burials at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site is zero," the Vancouver-Quilchena MLA's original post on X read. "Zero. No one should be afraid of the truth. Not lawyers, their governing bodies, or anyone else."
She was referring to attorney James Heller, who has received a considerable amount of backlash over his decision to sue the Law Society of British Columbia — a group to which he belongs — for libel after it repeated the claim that there were, in fact, mass graves at the Kamloops residential school.
Rustad was quick to ask Brodie to remove the posts.
"When the tweet was first put up, I was concerned that it might be misinterpreted," he said. "I asked her to take it down because of that concern."
Rustad made it clear that it "doesn't change the fact that there hasn't been anything found at these sites," nor the fact that what took place there was horrific.
"In Canada more than 4,000 children did not return home," he lamented.
"Those children died in residential schools, and tragically as part of this, they decided at the time not to send the deceased home for burial. They buried them on sites, so just about every residential school in the country has a cemetery, has children who passed."
Brodie refused, arguing that she was simply "standing for truth."
