McCRAE: Globe and Mail admits its Kamloops ‘mass grave’ failure — now other mainstream media must follow

James C. McCrae, former Manitoba attorney general and Canadian citizenship judge.In its May 30 mea culpa, the Globe and Mail’s editorial board came clean and confessed that the newspaper’s reporting of the May 27, 2021, Kamloops graves “discovery” announcement was journalism at its worst.The newspaper — finally, after five years — admitted it did no homework, asked no questions, and acted merely as a stenographer for the Kamloops Indian band, which, on that “day that lives in infamy,” announced it had discovered the bodies of 215 indigenous children indecently interred in the apple orchard near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.The Globe’s editorial board — and other mainstream media that also failed Canadians in the same way — must do much more than admit their five-year-long “grave” mistake.Nowhere in the Globe editorial can we detect contrition or an apology for the damage the newspaper has done to our country.As a result of this reckless and dangerous journalism, for five long years, indigenous families, and especially their children, have been encouraged to believe the ghastly story that thousands of their people have been murdered and clandestinely buried in unmarked or — worse — mass graves (genocide)..For five years, schoolchildren across Canada have been taught that their non-indigenous forebears have been responsible for the deliberate deaths of thousands of indigenous students at Indian residential schools.The Globe glosses over its share of blame for the destruction of Canada’s previous shining reputation as a decent society, the desecration and razing of Christian churches, the toppling of statues, and the constant and hateful vilification of the contributions of historic Canadian leadership figures.The Globe admits its own negligent misconduct, but then makes much of the irresponsible musings of leaders like John Horgan, then premier of BC, and Justin Trudeau, our former prime minister, both of whom chose to believe the reporting of media outlets like the Globe itself. Astonishingly, the paper adds: “Like Mr. Horgan, the former prime minister had no factual basis for that and other similar statements. Unlike Mr. Horgan, who died in 2024, Mr. Trudeau still has the opportunity to set the record straight. He has not; neither has the current Liberal government. Nor has Ottawa provided clarity on how the hundreds of millions of dollars sent to First Nations to establish whether the soil anomalies are human remains have been spent. Canadians are owed an explanation.”.The Globe also has the opportunity — indeed, the duty — to set the record straight. The harm Canada’s leading newspaper has inflicted on all of us has been ongoing for five years. Now, it must spend the next five years doing everything it can to make amends and help restore the national unity this sad chapter in our history has threatened.That said, credit should be extended to the Globe and Mail for finally coming clean. More importantly, though, its job has only begun. One editorial will not suffice.But what about other mainstream media like the CBC, CTV, Global, and others, who have engaged in the same wanton negligence and contributed so much to the heartache suffered by all Canadians, especially indigenous folks? Will those media leaders choose to carry on misleading us, as they have been doing these past five years, or will they begin the necessarily long process of mending the damage they have done to indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians alike?For brevity, this article does not include references to Canada’s current politicians at every level, including indigenous leadership, and their part in this “mass” disinformation campaign over the past five years: oft-repeated references to “genocide,” for example.Until more is said and written about the abject failure of Canada’s political leadership, let’s simply remind the media and our leaders that it’s never too late to do the right thing. Let’s do that, for the sake of the children.James C. McCrae, former Manitoba attorney general and Canadian citizenship judge.

McCRAE: Globe and Mail admits its Kamloops ‘mass grave’ failure — now other mainstream media must follow

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