Tom Flanagan is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary and co-editor of Grave Error and Dead Wrong.On December 16, Blacklock’s Reporter revealed that the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations had denied an Access to Information request for the reports filed by the Kamloops First Nation concerning the 215 human remains allegedly discovered in May 2021. The Department said that these reports had been “treated consistently in a confidential manner by the third party” and thus should be concealed by the government.This is complete nonsense. .AUBUT: Trudeau, Freeland, and Carney turned credentials, identity, and symbolism into substitutes for governing competence.On May 21, 2021, the Kamloops First Nation announced the “discovery” in a press release, creating headlines that echoed around the world. On July 15 of that year, the band held a highly public press conference about its findings. The chief made frequent additional public statements, while elders and “knowledge-keepers” regaled the media with newly recovered memories of students being murdered. It was the exact opposite of “being treated consistently in a confidential manner.”.The band then received a government grant of $12.1 million dollars for further research into the “unmarked graves,” on condition that reports about findings be filed. These reports would confirm what has already been leaked to the press, that no attempts were made at excavation and the money was used for public relations. That’s why the reports are being kept secret — because they would be highly embarrassing to both the government and to the Kamloops First Nation.This whole episode will ultimately go down as the greatest incident of mass hysteria in Canadian history. Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau ordered the Canadian flag flown at half-mast for six months to commemorate the “dead children.” .HORTON: Can the Right be ‘woke?’ .The New York Times, the world’s leading newspaper, ran a never-retracted headline about a “mass grave” at Kamloops. Other First Nations made similar announcements, and the government promised $321 million to support further searches for unmarked graves at Indian Residential Schools.Here's the unvarnished truth: No unmarked graves of children linked to residential schools have been found anywhere in Canada. None, zero, nada. Excavations in known cemeteries have turned up some bones, but they have not been linked to the schools. In any case, if you dig in a cemetery, it is not surprising to find burials!.No child was ever murdered in an Indian Residential School. Children did die, mainly of tuberculosis, but TB was a rampant killer of all children before the use of streptomycin started around 1950.There are no “missing children.” The schools kept excellent attendance records because they received a per capita subsidy for children in their care. Officials in Ottawa double-checked these records because they didn’t want to pay for students who weren’t present. It was impossible for a student to go missing, though with the passage of time families may have forgotten what happened to students who died of disease or ran away..WAGNER: Pierre Trudeau’s separation of God from government.These and other fallacies about Indian Residential Schools are exposed in the books Grave Error and Dead Wrong, readily available on Amazon. These books contain essays by well-known academics, journalists, lawyers, and retired judges. Although completely ignored in the legacy media, they are Amazon best-sellers. People want to know the truth.The hysteria about “unmarked graves” has subsided a bit, but it is far from gone. We are now in the stage of cover-up, where those who created the story are trying to conceal their role. We shouldn’t let them get away with denigrating Canada’s history and embarrassing our country in the eyes of the world.Tom Flanagan is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary and co-editor of Grave Error and Dead Wrong.
