Canadian Senate rejects residential school denialism amendment from Canada hate crime bill

Canada's Senate has approved the “Combatting Hate Act” but rejected an amendment that would have made it a criminal offense to promote hatred against Indigenous Peoples by condoning, denying or downplaying the Indian residential school system, according to reporting by ICT. The amendment was introduced by Sen. Nancy Karetak-Lindell of Nunavut, an Inuk senator and residential school survivor. ICT reported that Karetak-Lindell told senators June 3 that the amendment had previously been approved by the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights by a 7-1 vote. She said the proposal would address what she described as a gap in Canada's Criminal Code and questioned why Indigenous Peoples were not included alongside other groups protected by targeted hate provisions.

According to the ICT reporting, Sen. Pierre Moreau, the government's representative in the Senate, opposed the amendment, saying there had been no consultation on addressing residential school denialism. Following the vote, Indigenous leaders and survivor advocates criticized the decision. ICT reported that Laura Arndt of the Survivors Secretariat, an organization that documents the history of one of Canada’s largest residential schools, said she shut down comments on its social media platforms after receiving a surge of denialist and hateful messages. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak also expressed disappointment. The bill now moves forward in the legislative process.