VANCOUVER — When OneBC leader Dallas Brodie and former professor Frances Widdowson arrived at the University of British Columbia on Thursday morning, they were greeted by hundreds of protestors.What was billed as an opportunity to discuss reconciliation and the claim that the remains of 215 children were discovered in mass graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School quickly devolved into chaos, with attendees shouting over — and at — one another..Protestors — many dressed in orange — filled the square between the Barber building and Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. While Widdowson made her way into the crowd, Brodie hung back and spoke to reporters.."There's a lot of information out there that hasn't been reported in the mainstream media about what's really going on up at the Kamloops Indian Residential School," Brodie said, referring to the aforementioned claim, first made in 2021. "The band demanded money from the federal government to do the exhumations, and that money was paid, and no exhumations have been done."She argued that in the years since, an "industry" has developed that warrants looking into."What we really should have is a debate going on inside a forum at UBC where we can hear both sides of the story," Brodie added, citing the loudness of the protestors.OneBC has been a vocal critic of what they've termed the "reconciliation industry." In December, the party released a documentary on the subject called "Making a Killing.".Brodie went on to argue that at the end of the day, protestors were undermining their own cause by preventing her from speaking.."They actually bring more attention to it," she said, "which is good in the long run.".Widdowson was eventually carried away from the scene by officers and driven off campus in a police cruiser. She was later released with no charges.A few minutes later, Brodie and her team began walking towards the Nest.."This is the indoctrination of students," she told Rebel News' Drea Humphrey. "It's right out of the playbook of Mao. It’s communism, it’s cultural Marxism. All of you parents out there who have kids who are attending UBC, this is what they're dealing with.".Brodie and her team sought refuge in the UBC Aquatic Centre. Protestors tried to follow them in, but security held the line and eventually the doors were locked..They were eventually filed out the back door into a bus, but protestors quickly got wind of the escape plan and confronted them as they were boarding..As they departed, protestors cheered, many sending them off with a middle finger..One of the protest organizers held a rally following their departure, declaring he would "make sure" they "never return.""If they try," he added, "they're gonna get their asses kicked right off this campus."In a statement, UBC declared that as an institution it is "fundamentally committed to upholding free inquiry, the free exchange of ideas and opinion, academic freedom, diversity of perspective, and reasonable debate.""When it became clear that there were potential safety risks, Campus Security, with the support of the RCMP, directed the visitors to leave," the statement continued. "As the visitors were not following these instructions, RCMP then facilitated their departure from campus."No injuries were reported. .Amidst all the noise, the Western Standard caught up with one protestor who agreed to share their perspective under the condition of anonymity."As a descendant of family members who were forcibly taking from their families and forced into residential schools and suffered abuse, it's terrible," they said of discussions surrounding the alleged mass graves. "It re-traumatizes the survivors. The intergenerational impacts are already bad enough, and then when you're constantly being reminded of the the forced assimilation — genocide is the better word for it — you know, it's a struggle."They argued that regardless of where one stands on the issue, such events are not productive."I believe that people should have the right to freedom of speech," they added, "but they should also maybe base their stuff on factual evidence and not just be denialists ... I'm kind of hoping that it's more cognitive dissonance than anything, but I don't think so."They emphasized the need to have conversations without invalidating the lived experience of those who went through the residential school system."She wasn't invited here on this campus," they said of Brodie. "Maybe if she did it the right way and wanted to talk to the Kamloops First Nation — the Secwépemc people — and have that conversation with them, I'm positive that they would be willing to have that conversation with her. Maybe something better will come than what's going on here today because the way she's doing it, it almost seems like she's just rage baited people — and it's working."
