OneBC MLA Tara Armstrong has accused the BC NDP of "humiliating" Canadian children in school for, among other things, "having the wrong ancestors."During Question Period on Tuesday, she called on the government to get back to teaching students to "take pride in their culture.". "If you want to humiliate your children at school, send them here to us in British Columbia," Armstrong said, citing a document from the government's own curriculum guidance for teachers that instructs students to "develop a 'mindset of cultural humility'." She lamented that, "in our classrooms, our kids are being taught to not take pride in their culture — Canada's incredible culture — but to be ashamed of it.""That's because this government and every other party in this House continues to defend the practice of land acknowledgements in our classrooms — the pinnacle of humiliation rituals," Armstrong continued. "They shame our kids for having the wrong ancestors and they impose false guilt for crimes they did not commit and in many cases crimes that never even happened. She maintained that "our kids should be taught to be proud of Canadian culture, because we have the best culture in the world," and asked the Education Minister Lisa Beare why her government is "humiliating our kids instead of teaching them.""BC is a welcoming place," Beare responded. "Our schools need to be a safe place no matter how you look, what you wear, where you come from, what your background is. Everything we do is grounded in keeping kids safe and making them feel included and welcome.".Armstrong's comments come just days after fellow OneBC MLA Dallas Brodie introduced a bill to ban land acknowledgements in publicly-funded institutions, including schools. It was defeated at first reading after members of other parties — including all but two BC Conservative MLAs — voted against it.
