GIESBRECHT: Will the Senate send Chief Aaron Pete to jail for residential school ‘denialism’?

The Senate human rights committee last night voted seven to one to criminalize Indian Residential School “denialism.” Public statements intended to promote hatred by downplaying the impacts of Residential Schools would be outlawed under threat of two years in jail..Senate committee backs criminal penalties for residential school denialism .Chief Aaron Peter has volunteered to be the first “criminal” to be convicted of their proposed “denialism” law if this standing committee of Canada’s “wise chamber of second thought” gets its way, and makes anyone who says anything they construe as negative about residential schools a criminal.Here is Chief Pete’s post:.Chief Aaron Pete is becoming well known for his candid discussions about reconciliation with Canadians of every stripe. He is a gentle man and always polite. I have watched many of his interviews, and have always been impressed with how he manages to keep discussions of even the most contentious topics courteous and respectful..The point he is making here is obvious: It is completely ridiculous to suggest that anyone who says anything positive about residential schools must become a criminal. That would make criminals of any of the thousands of people who attended residential schools and spoke positively about their experiences. .But even more consequential, the imposition of such a law would put the nail in the coffin for any hope that we could maintain even the pretence of free speech and expression in Canada..GIESBRECHT: Five years after the ‘unmarked graves’ claim, Canada still has no bodies — but plenty of demands for silence.But let’s look at this a little more carefully. First of all, there is no chance that such a broad, general criminalization of potentially hundreds of thousands, or even millions of Canadians, would be passed. A quick look at the comment section in any publication that allows candid articles about the Kamloops graves claim alone would result in dozens of Canadians being charged with a crime. The number of writers who have taken this subject on is probably in the thousands. The “seven thousand” residential school students Tompson Highway refers to in my article linked to, who reported positive residential school experiences, could all be charged.So, here’s my suggestion if you agree with me. Send your unvarnished opinions about the criminalization of “residential school denialism” to every member of our esteemed Senate. Here they are at https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/. While you are at it, perhaps do a bit of research to see if there is anything positive this group of political appointees has done for you in the past five years. Then call up your MP and ask why it is costing Canadians $135,000,000 every year — that’s right, $135 million every year — for people so out of touch with reality that they make proposals as profoundly stupid as their “denialism” whopper.

GIESBRECHT: Will the Senate send Chief Aaron Pete to jail for residential school ‘denialism’?

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