Chiefs call on feds to criminalize residential school denialism as hate speech

OTTAWA - First Nations chiefs say the federal government is enabling residential school denialism by failing to make it a crime.

Chiefs call on feds to criminalize residential school denialism as hate speech To continue reading, please subscribe: Digital Subscription One year of digital access for only $205* - Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com - Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper - Access News Break, our award-winning app - Play interactive puzzles To continue reading, please subscribe: Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional $1 for the first 4 weeks* OTTAWA – First Nations chiefs say the federal government is enabling residential school denialism by failing to make it a crime.

The chiefs passed an emergency resolution at the Assembly of First Nations meeting in Ottawa this week calling on the feds to criminalize residential school denialism as hate speech. Chief David Monias of Pimicikamak Cree Nation says the truth is not optional and that reconciliation cannot exist without it. He says there is extensive documentation of the abuse those institutions perpetrated on First Nations children and efforts to downplay that history distort the truth.

More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996. An estimated 6,000 children died in the schools, though experts say the actual number could be much higher. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2026.