B.C. Conservative leader under fire for likening teaching of sexuality, gender to residential schools

The leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia is under fire for a social media post that critics say appeared to compare teaching students about sexual orientation and gender identity to the genocide of Indigenous children in residential schools.

John Rustad, MLA for Nechako Lakes, acknowledged the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in a Sept. 30 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Today we remember what happens when the Canadian government thinks it's better at raising children than parents," read Rustad's Saturday post, which was also shared on his party's official Facebook page.

"I will always stand with parents."

Rustad's post quickly drew criticism from residential school survivors and fellow MLAs, who said it was politicizing the deaths of children at residential schools in order to support the parental rights movement — which supports a ban on teaching B.C. students about sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in schools.

Those who support parental rights say parents need more information and input about what their children are learning in school, a position Rustad previously backed in a Sept. 20 statement.

The catch-all term "parental rights" has also been used across Canada and the United States to lobby for legislation to require parental consent for children and teens who want to use different names or pronouns at schools — measures that some LGBTQ advocates say harm transgender youth.

Critics of the term say it's a dog-whistle for anti-trans policies and is a misnomer, as it excludes LGBTQ parents and suggests parents' rights supersede those of their children.

CBC News reached out to Rustad for comment. In a phone call on Sunday, his office said he would not be available for an interview before publication. 

Residential school survivor Celeste George, a member of the Nak'azdli Whut'en, a First Nation near Fort St. James, B.C., said seeing Rustad's post on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day meant to honour victims and survivors of residential schools, was "enraging."

"It's not even the comparison, [it's] the actual idea that he can blatantly use the day for his own hatred, for his own agenda," said George, who is also a former anti-racism educator.

"That was really horrific to me, knowing that hatred has taken so much from us."

She said Rustad's post will fuel anti-Indigenous racism and anti-trans sentiments, a concern echoed by Florence Ashley, a transfeminine associate professor of law at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

"It's absolutely vile for a politician to compare a deeply marginalized group asking for rights with cultural genocide," Ashley wrote on X on Sunday.