How a resolution at the B.C. Law Society became a debate about residential school denialism

A recent request to change the wording in a mandatory Indigenous intercultural course for lawyers in British Columbia led to a debate over whether the changes amounted to residential school denialism. 

Victoria-based criminal defence lawyer Jim Heller submitted a resolution to the B.C. Law Society to change the wording. The resolution was seconded by Burnaby lawyer Mark Berry. 

The wording used in the training said: "On May 27, 2021, the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc Nation reported the discovery of an unmarked burial site containing the bodies of 215 children on the former Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds. Although the discovery was shocking to many Canadians, many Indigenous residential school survivors had previously reported the existence of unmarked burial sites, and the unexplained disappearances of children; the discovery confirms what survivors have been saying all along."

Heller and Berry asked to have the first sentence changed to "...Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc Nation reported the discovery of a potentially unmarked burial site…" and to remove the reference to the bodies of 215 children.

They also asked law society members to delete the passage saying the discovery confirms survivors' testimonies.

The resolution went to a vote at the society's annual general meeting in September, where it failed with 1,499 in favour of the changes and 1,683 opposed. Another 590 members abstained from voting. 

The proposed changes didn't initially cause concerns for Ts'msyen and Dene lawyer Christina Gray, but she said after about a week she saw a statement from the B.C. First Nations Justice Council that made her rethink her position. 

The justice council's website says it represents First Nations in the province on justice-related issues.

That statement called the resolution racist and said it supports residential school denialism.

Gray said she had compassion for the approach Heller and Berry took because it's similar to the way a lawyer might approach a criminal trial.

"You have to be able to cast a doubt that someone did or didn't do a crime," she said.

"So I understand how they could see this change in language around 'anomalies' would be very important to cast a doubt."

But, she said, law society members are different from a jury, and Gray said the resolution failed to take into account residential school denialism. 

Crystal Gail Fraser, a member of the National Advisory Committee for Residential Schools, Missing Children and Unmarked Burials, said the proposed changes reflect growing residential school denialism.