CityNews Vancouver found out this week the public has little patience for attempts to gaslight Canadians into believing the damning “unmarked graves” narrative. After explosive allegations in the summer of 2021 that there are 215 unmarked graves of indigenous children that died at the hand of Catholics in Canada's residential schools in the nineteenth century, no evidence has been found after three years of investigations. Until recently, some legacy media has continued to push these baseless accusations as though it were fact. As it has become clear there are no bodies, most mainstream media publications now leave the subject largely untouched. CityNews however initially published an article Monday claiming it was a “grim anniversary” because “three years ago hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered at a residential school site in Kamloops,” BC. The publication posted the article to Twitter (“X”) with the above statement in the caption. The post was promptly “community-noted,” which is when platform-approved contributors add context and fact-check posts. “No remains have been recovered nor have any graves been identified at this time,” wrote community notes, linking a CBC article that admits no graves were found. .The publication then deleted the tweet and changed the wording of the article to rather read: “three years ago Monday, the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation released the preliminary findings of its investigation, saying hundreds of suspected unmarked graves were discovered at a residential school site in Kamloops.” The journalist’s name was removed from the article and replaced with “News Staff” and an editor’s note was added to the bottom of the piece: “Editor’s Note: An initial version of this article stated the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc initial findings, which the Nation said 215 graves had been discovered at the Kamloops Residential School. Since May 2021, the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc have revised this position, stating that 200 ‘anomalies’ and suspected burial sites have been located using ground penetrating radar.”.First Nations groups initially reported in May, 2021, ground-penetrating radar had found “soil disturbances” in the ground. Media then claimed the findings exposed mass graves with the remains of 215 indigenous children. The Canadian Press called the allegations the “story of the year.”Consequently, Canada became known around the world for “genocide” and killing babies and children — a narrative pushed not least by elected officials in parliament. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lowered the Canadian flag on Parliament Hill and all federal buildings across the country for five months and MPs universally referred to the claims as factual genocide. As a result, dozens of churches were set on fire to protest the alleged atrocities. Trudeau said in a press conference at the time these arson attacks were “understandable” given what he called the genocide of children in residential schools by the Catholic church. Yet despite these horrifying claims, the grounds in question were never excavated to uncover what was feared were human remains. Meanwhile as recent as May 24, Governor General Mary Simon honoured the Canadian Archaeological Association Working Group on Unmarked Graves. .As the likelihood of uncovering evidence of unmarked graves becomes increasingly slim, some have begun peddling alternate stories to explain why no bodies have been found.BC Regional Chief Terry Teegee claimed Tuesday it could be that residential schools used incinerators to destroy human remains.
