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- calendar_today October 9, 2026
Manitoba Premier Rejects Criminalizing Residential School Denialism
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has stated that while denial of the harms caused by residential schools is detestable, it should not be criminalized. Kinew's comments come as federal MP Leah Gazan, representing Manitoba for the NDP, continues her efforts to make residential school denialism illegal in Canada.
Disagreement Over Bill C-254
Leah Gazan initially introduced Bill C-254 to amend the Criminal Code in October 2024. The bill aims to outlaw the condoning, denial, justification, or minimization of the Indian residential school system through statements beyond private conversations. After dying when the 2025 federal election was called, Gazan reintroduced the bill in October 2025. It remains in the early stages of the legislative process, having only completed its first reading.
Upon its initial introduction, Gazan asserted, "If the government is serious about reconciliation, then they need to protect survivors and their families from hate." She emphasized the residential school system as "a genocide designed to wipe out Indigenous cultures, languages, families and heritage." The bill would make it criminally illegal to deny, downplay, or justify the Indian residential school system, including through public statements.
However, Kinew expressed his disagreement in an interview with CBC Manitoba's Up to Speed host Marcy Markusa on Friday. "I have a lot of respect for MP Gazan, but I don't think we can criminalize this. I think we have to just do the continued work of educating people and trying to combat misinformation," he said.
Education Over Criminalization
Premier Kinew stressed the importance of education over criminalization in addressing residential school denialism. "It's very well-documented. It's very historic. So let's make sure that we keep that history alive in our living memory as a province," Kinew said. He supported increasing education in schools about residential schools and suggested that this education should be localized to cover the 18 residential schools that operated in Manitoba.
Kinew explained that while significant advances have been made in educating K-12 students, more work remains to educate adults in workplaces, religious institutions, and community spaces: "There is a need for those no longer in school to be educated as well." He recounted how even some of his own staff were unaware of the scale of child deaths documented during the residential school era.
History and Impact of Residential Schools in Canada
From the 1830s until 1997, First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were taken from their families and communities across Canada to attend government-funded, church-run residential schools. These schools sought to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, an estimated 150,000 Indigenous children attended residential schools, and more than 4,000 deaths have been documented among these children.
Recent Reconciliation Efforts in Manitoba
On September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Manitoba announced a partnership with the City of Brandon to purchase a former campground property that was once part of the Brandon Residential School, which operated from 1895 to 1972. The site, which contains a former cemetery used from 1895 to 1912, is believed to contain the remains of more than 50 children. Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, which now owns the land, is working with university researchers to identify those buried on the site and will guide decisions around the former cemetery.
Rev. Stan McKay, whose family attended the Brandon Residential School and who is himself a survivor of other residential schools, described the purchase of the cemetery land as "a very important piece" of reconciliation. McKay, the first Indigenous person to lead the United Church of Canada, said more education is needed in Manitoba schools about the residential school experience, a goal echoed by Premier Kinew.
Looking Forward
Premier Kinew concluded that remembering and understanding the history of residential schools is essential to prevent their negative lessons from being forgotten. He emphasized, "The thing that we don't want to happen is for this to fade from our living memory, and then we forget, and then maybe some of the negative lessons we should have learned start to re-emerge." Both Kinew and other community leaders see education—not criminalization—as key to reconciliation efforts and to combating residential school denialism.
Source: cbc.ca.
