Graphic by the Native Students Union
Residential school (R.S.) denialism is a current hot topic and I find myself reflecting on the day OneBC representatives (Dallas Brodie, a then-sitting MLA, Frances Widdowson, Tim Thielmann, Jim McMurtry and others) and their supporters gathered at UVic with the intention of casting doubt that 215 unmarked graves had been found at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
Without haste, the UVic and Victorian community organized on campus grounds to counteract the harm OneBC thought themselves righteous enough to hand out.
I watched from inside the First Peoples House as crowds formed around Petch Fountain to protect the Indigenous community, and additionally to ensure that denialists were not the majority gathering that day.
Denialism is very interesting to me, because I have to wonder how could one be convinced that something so blatantly violent and mal-intended was not? That level of conviction must mean a portion of their belief in the supposed harmlessness of residential schools (RS) stems not just their own shortcomings, but is indicative of the frailties within our own nation-wide education system.
In 2025, Edana Beauvais and Mark Williamson surveyed nearly 2 000 non-Indigenous Canadian citizens and conducted media research that mentioned denialism. In their research, they identified nine popular rhetorical arguments prevalent in denialist discussion.
These arguments scale from “RS were made to help Indigenous people” to “the unmarked graves may not even contain Indigenous people.”
Research showed that some participants who support these arguments also don’t trust the media, and support weak conspiracy theories. Additionally, responses revealed how little people know of the issue, and of RS history.
The researchers recognized a knowledge gap, and exposed educational material to respondents. The results show that educational exposure decreases denialism and increases the likelihood of participants explaining the reasoning behind their answers.
What creates the common denialist is misinformation, lack of education, and significant amounts of distraction to have the space to be misinformed. The answer is painfully clear: RS denialism is rooted in white supremacy and empowered by knowledge gaps.
With denialism slowly increasing in its popularity (largely due to the global rise of right-wing politics), Canadians are feeling restless and threatened by accountability, as shown in recent events in and around Victoria, BC.
White nationalists on Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc land in the B.C interior made demonstrations on their misinformed denialism while wearing cloth masks, holding a bold sign that read “Got Bones?”
The Heiltsuk Tribal Council responded by releasing a statement, and multiple political leaders — Mark Carney, David Eby, Emily Lowan, and premier-elect Lorne Doerkson, among others — condemned the groups’ actions, however this incident indicates that not enough is being done to protect both Indigenous realities and history.
While their demonstration was not focally criticizing RS history, white nationalists who call themselves the Loyal Pioneers displayed their group at the legislature in Downtown, Victoria just over a week ago, the morning after the provincial election.
What creates a denialist is misinformation, and misinformation creates the space to harbor harmful ideas. When harmful ideas gain traction, morbid displays of hate and racism occur.
In the face of denialism, conversations need to be refocused on Indigenous nations. Indigenous rights are under threat (ex. DRIPA potentially being repealed in B.C., and Carney’s Bill C-39) which will devastate Indigenous communities, the land we all live on, and will hurt our tomorrow.
So what ideas and people should we be centering right now? That is up to the public, and the public is you.
Readers can expect more on DRIPA and Bill C-39 in our next column.
