10/10/2026
Before we can reach reconciliation, we must honor the truth 🧡
MY RESPONSE TO PUBLIC DEBATE TO CRIMINALIZE RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL DENIALISM
BILL C-254- AN ACT TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL CODE (promotion of hatred against Indigenous peoples)
As the sponsor of Bill C-254, and in response to the numerous survivors and community members who have contacted me feeling hurt by elected officials who do not support criminalizing residential school denialism, I felt compelled to speak out.
I am choosing to do so as someone who has been entrusted with survivors’ stories and has publicly promised to use my power and privilege to fight for their dignity, security, and safety. That includes my promise to advocate for the criminalization of residential school denialism once and for all.
I have given my word to thousands of survivors, and protecting their dignity is my first obligation. What do we have, even as elected officials, if we do not keep our word to the people we serve?
As noted by Sean Carleton, “Being a witness means taking action; it is not being passive when the truth is challenged.” I have a duty to continue to act and use my power and privilege to fight in the House of Commons on behalf of survivors and to ensure there are consequences for violence perpetrated against them.
The purpose of Bill C-254 is to add residential school denialism to the Criminal Code by addressing the widespread dissemination of disinformation about residential schools that downplays, condones, justifies, or minimizes the genocide that occurred in these institutions. This does not include individual conversations. It does, however, include the publication of books, such as The Grave Hoax, for which I received an honourable mention, in which the author spreads harmful disinformation about residential schools.
I would like to remind all my elected colleagues that, in 2022, the House unanimously supported my motion recognizing what happened in residential schools as genocide. This was the first genocide to be recognized as having occurred within Canadian borders.
The need to criminalize residential school denialism has become even more pronounced in the face of increasingly violent demonstrations by extremist hate groups, such as what we witnessed in Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc just before this year’s Orange Shirt Day. The normalization of racism against Indigenous peoples must stop. This includes the increasing violence being perpetrated against residential school survivors, our families, and our communities. I am not alone in this assertion.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, Ashwini K.P., stated: “I welcome information provided to me by the federal Government about private members’ bills introduced in the Canadian Parliament to criminalize residential school denialism and urge further attempts to add relevant provisions to the Criminal Code.”
Kimberly Murray, the former Independent Special Interlocutor responsible for leading the development of a reparations framework for missing and disappeared children and unmarked burials, also concluded that residential school denialism must be criminalized following more than two years of intensive engagement with survivors and Indigenous communities across the country. She called for the addition of a provision to the Criminal Code using the same criteria for criminal behaviour in relation to residential school denialism as those set out in Bill C-254.
Finally, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, an international tribunal, ruled that Canada continues to be implicated in crimes against humanity and genocide against Indigenous peoples. It called on the federal government to criminalize residential school denialism, citing the government’s failure to respond to increasing violence against survivors, our families, and our communities.
I have heard from many survivors who have shared their feelings about the ongoing debate in the news over whether criminalizing residential school denialism is an appropriate step. I am so very sorry that this debate has been triggering and hurtful for you. I am sorry that, after surviving genocide and enduring so much throughout your lifetimes, your calls for safety, security, and dignity are still up for debate.
Having a platform that provides power and privilege comes with great responsibility. To the thousands of survivors I have had the honour of speaking with over the years, I want you to know that I have heard you. For many years, violence perpetrated by extremist actors against survivors has been ignored. That’s why I am using my position to heed your calls to criminalize residential school denialism and protect your dignity, security, and safety.
To every survivor and community member who has been harmed by denialism, including the threats it poses to your physical safety, I want you to know that I have heard you, and I will continue to push for criminalization.
To every survivor who feels hurt and burdened by the expectation that you must educate extremists in response to the violence they have perpetrated against you, I want you to know that I agree. Placing that burden on you is yet another attack on your dignity, safety, and security.
I have heard you, and I will continue to bear witness to your calls and take action.
Love you very much,
Leah
