The Métis National Council (MNC) welcomes the decision of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights to amend Bill C-9 to include the criminalization of residential school denialism, an important and overdue step toward addressing anti-Indigenous hate in Canada. The amendment would recognize the denial, distortion, or minimization of the harms caused by the residential school system as a form of hate propaganda under the Criminal Code.
For years, the MNC has called for stronger action to confront residential school denialism and the growing normalization of anti-Indigenous rhetoric that seeks to erase or diminish the lived experiences of Survivors and their families. MNC specifically advanced this recommendation in 2022 when First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Survivors travelled to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis, emphasizing the need for governments and institutions to actively combat denialism as part of meaningful reconciliation.
Most recently, President Victoria Pruden directly advocated for the inclusion of residential school denialism in Bill C-9 during her testimony before the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights, where she emphasized the urgent need to address growing forms of anti-Métis hate, including denialism directed at the harms and legacy of residential schools.
“Residential school denialism is not simply misinformation, it is a harmful form of hate that seeks to erase the truth of Survivors, diminish the intergenerational impacts of these institutions, and undermine reconciliation efforts in this country,” said President Pruden. “The Senate committee’s amendment sends an important message: Canada must not tolerate the denial or distortion of the profound harms caused by the residential school system.”
President Pruden emphasized that Métis Survivors and families continue to carry the impacts of residential schools and related institutions across generations, and that truth must remain at the centre of reconciliation.
“For many Survivors, denialism compounds trauma. It tells them their experiences are up for debate, that the pain they carry is somehow exaggerated or unworthy of acknowledgment,” added President Pruden. “Reconciliation cannot move forward if truth itself is continually questioned. We owe Survivors — including Métis Survivors — more than words. We owe them action.”
The MNC recognizes the leadership of Survivors, Indigenous leadership, and parliamentarians who pushed for this amendment and urges all parliamentarians to support its adoption as Bill C-9 proceeds through the legislative process.
“This amendment reflects what Survivors and Indigenous leaders, including the Métis National Council, have been calling for over many years,” said President Pruden. “The history and legacy of residential schools are well documented through Survivor testimony, commissions, inquiries, and decades of advocacy. Criminalizing residential school denialism is about protecting truth, honouring Survivors, and ensuring that hate against Indigenous Peoples has no place in Canada.”