B.C. legislature rejects bill to scrap National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

A move to scrap British Columbia’s statutory holiday for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was launched in the provincial legislature on Thursday by OneBC leader and Vancouver-Quilchena ML

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The private member’s bill, titled the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Statute Repeal Act, sought to repeal B.C.’s recognition of September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

“We have no regrets, nothing to reconcile for, and no apologies to give because we did nothing wrong,” Brodie said when introducing her private member’s bill.

The original 2023 act, The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Act, aligned B.C. with the federal holiday commemorating the legacy of residential schools. Its enactment was part of broader reconciliation efforts in Canada, following the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report and the 2021 discovery of “215 anomalies” at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

The decision to observe the holiday in B.C. came roughly two years after then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “It is Canada’s fault that the remains of an estimated 215 Indigenous children were buried on the site of a one-time residential school in Kamloops, B.C.” — a claim that remains unproven.

In response, the federal government allocated millions in funding for related investigations, including support for the Kamloops band to verify the claims of “unmarked graves” and “buried schoolchildren.” Most of that funding remains unaccounted for, despite multiple freedom-of-information requests, and no conclusive findings have been released to date.

“Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the Kamloops tribe and the NDP continue to perpetuate this lie to this day,” OneBC states on its website, which also encourages visitors to sign a petition to repeal the 2023 act.

Following the 2021 Kamloops announcement, Canadian flags on federal buildings were flown at half-mast from May 30 for more than five months — the longest period in history — until they were raised on November 11 after consultations with Indigenous leaders.

“The lie was so outrageous that it kept the Canadian flag at half-mast for nearly six months, longer than ever before,” OneBC further notes on its website.

Independent MLA for Summerland, Amelia Boultbee, slammed the OneBC leader for her claim there “was no wrongdoing by Canada against First Nations and Indigenous people during settlement.”

“This is factually untrue, and there has been no historical debate about this fact. It is extremely damaging to have factual inaccuracies such as this go unrepudiated in the House, and I would ask that Mr. Speaker withdraw,” Boultbee demanded ahead of Question Period.

After a pause, with possible murmurs or reactions in the chamber, Speaker Honourable Raj Chouhan rejected the demand.

“Members, thank you very much for your point of order at this point. This is a matter of debate and the Chair will not intervene.”

Brodie’s bill was ultimately voted down on first reading, with only three MLAs — Brodie, fellow OneBC MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream Tara Armstrong, and independent MLA for Peace River North Jordan Kealy — voting in favour.