Canada Day opinion piece in Sask. paper causes controversy
An opinion article about Canada Day that ran in a local Saskatchewan newspaper has created controversy due to its claims about residential schools.
The piece titled “We have nothing to be ashamed of on Canada Day” offended some Indigenous people and allies in southern Saskatchewan.
Indigenous activist Summer Stonechild was shocked when she found the article after coming out of a Sundance ceremony.
“It was very disturbing to come out of a ceremony and understand that this publication was made available in Treaty Four,” she said.
The article, written by columnist Brian Giesbrecht, was published in the Fort Times, a local newspaper in Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask.
“I was trying to wish everybody a Happy Canada Day, and I was also trying to assure people that Canada is not a genocidal country,” Giesbrecht said of the article.
The article criticized Kevin Annett, a former minister of the United Church of Canada, for “inventing” stories of priests murdering children and hiding the bodies, and those who believe what Giesbrecht calls “conspiracy theories.”
“I’m calling them conspiracy theories because that’s what they are,” Giesbrecht said.
Giesbrecht said he believes there are legitimate searches of burial sites for children from remote communities who died of diseases.
“There was simply no way of even notifying the parents that the child was sick,” he said.
Stonechild is calling on the Fort Times to retract the story.
Indigenous activist Summer Stonechild feels the opinion piece should be retracted. (Stacey Hein/CTVNews)
“People have a hard time believing our traumas because they were kept apart from the real stories,” Summer Stonechild said.
Grasslands News Group, the publishing company behind the Fort Times, said the opinions expressed in the column do not reflect those of the publication itself, in a statement to CTV News.
“It was an opinion of someone who we felt our readers are entitled to see,” Grasslands News Group said.
However, one local business was so upset with the article that they decided to stop dealing with the newspaper altogether.
“We decided to pull it, our customer base is mainly Indigenous peoples,” Jenna Cyr, the manager of Becky’s Place, a business in Fort Qu’Appelle, said, “We decided to not advertise with them as well.”
Grasslands News said it hoped the article would spark conversation around reconciliation.
While being interviewed, Stonechild held a feather and sweet grass to symbolize her support for reconciliation.
“I don’t discredit our non-Indigenous community for wanting to celebrate [Canada Day] but there needs to be a reflection on the truth behind what Canada is,” Stonechild said.
----
If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419, or the Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll free line at 1-800-721-0066.
Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Bob Cole, veteran CBC broadcaster and former voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada,' dead at 90
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.