Minister won't commit to criminalizing residential school denialism

Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty listens during a funding announcement for "For Indigenous, By Indigenous" (FIBI) housing projects with the National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI), in Ottawa, on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

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OTTAWA — Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty was noncommittal when asked about criminalizing residential school denialism after a group linked to white nationalism reportedly staged a demonstration in the B.C. interior over the weekend.

Roseanne Casimir, chief of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, said a group of masked individuals dropped a banner from an overpass in Kamloops, B.C., on Sunday questioning reports of human burials at the former sites of residential schools.

The demonstration — which included the display of a banner bearing the message, “Got bones?” — happened just days ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to honour the children who attended residential schools and to remember the ones who never came home.

“White supremacy will not instil fear in generations of survivors and intergenerational survivors who have already carried fear for far too long. Our people know what it means to live with fear imposed upon us by others,” Casimir said in a media statement Sunday.

“Yet we also know the strength, resilience and courage of our survivors, families, and community members. We have endured fear, and we will not be intimidated. We stand together, day after day and generation after generation, to ensure that this history is never repeated.”

More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996. Thousands of children died in the institutions.

NDP MP Leah Gazan has a private member’s bill currently before the House of Commons which would criminalize as hate speech condoning, denying, downplaying or justifying residential schools. That is the language used to criminalize Holocaust denialism in the Criminal Code.

Chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations have called for the government to enact that legislation on multiple occasions, and as recently as July.

The resolution passed by chiefs came not long after the Liberals passed a new hate crime law. Some senators tried and failed to amend that law to cover residential school denialism.

Some First Nations chiefs have asked the Liberal government to introduce its own similar bill — which would be more likely to pass — but Gull-Masty would not commit to that on Monday.

“While I acknowledge that the opposition is taking a position and trying to move something forward, that comes from them,” Gull-Masty said at an unrelated news conference in Ottawa.

“We have to be led by community to ensure that the decisions we make is truly reflective of what they want to receive in terms of support.”

The Canadian Press has requested an interview with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree about the weekend event and on how the government is addressing residential school denialism.

In a social media post, the Assembly of First Nations said it strongly condemns the display of racism and hate in B.C.

“We call for a full investigation and for governments and Canadians to join us in pushing back against racism,” the statement said.

“There is no place for this in today’s society. We must stand together against ignorance, racism and lies, and stand up for First Nations rights, for truth and for reconciliation.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2026

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press