BC Regulator Seeks Cancellation of Teacher’s Certification for Comments on Residential Schools

Jim McMurtry, formerly a teacher for the Abbotsford School District in Abbotsford, B.C. Courtesy of Jim McMurtry

A British Columbia teacher with a 40-year career in education says the B.C. Ministry of Education’s Teacher Regulation Branch (TRB) is trying to ban him from teaching for life because of his classroom comments on residential schools, even before his case is heard by an arbitrator.

Jim McMurtry provided The Epoch Times with an excerpt from the letter sent by the TRB to his lawyer proposing a “consent resolution agreement” for the cancellation of his certificate of teaching qualification “before any adjudication of my case.”

“The TRB wants to ban me for life before I am even heard at arbitration. There is an inquisitorial-like frenzy to frame me for allegations that are absurd and false, notably that I committed professional misconduct for questioning the genocide lie in residential schools,” Mr. McMurtry said in an interview on Aug. 14.

The teacher says an arbitration hearing has not even been scheduled yet. The letter suggests Mr. McMurtry can “voluntarily” enter into the agreement, which will require him to admit he engaged in “professional misconduct” and “conduct unbecoming” for his views on residential schools.

The letter further suggests that Mr. McMurtry agree to the cancellation of his teaching certificate and states that his comments to media outlets had harmed “the education system by creating an unwelcoming environment for some students and their families and by undermining the confidence of the public in the profession and the education system.”

“I should have supported their race and gender indoctrination, their removal of literature, their falsification of history,” Mr. McMurtry said.

“I did nothing wrong,” he said, adding he intends to stand his ground “against woke inquisitors.”

The school district recommended that Mr. McMurtry be terminated, stating a number of allegations against him were “found to be unsubstantiated,” while others were substantiated. The board took particular offence to Mr. McMurtry telling others about the investigation against him. He was directed by the board not to discuss the issue with anyone except his union representatives. A report said he “does not share the School District’s values.”

‘Historically True’

Mr. McMurtry ran into trouble with his school board after telling students that many residential school deaths were caused by illness, which he maintains is “historically true.”

He said he was prompted to read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report in response to media reports indicating the discovery of a suspected “mass grave” containing 215 indigenous children in Kamloops.

The report indicates about 49 percent of residential school deaths were due to tuberculosis among deaths with a known cause. The majority of the remainder of deaths were attributed to illnesses including influenza and pneumonia.

On one occasion while Mr. McMurtry was teaching, a student suggested the children in Kamloops were tortured by priests and left out in the snow to die. The teacher said he had not seen evidence that this was a fact and told the student there were negative aspects to residential schools, but that most deaths were due to illness, especially tuberculosis.

Mr. McMurtry, who has a master’s degree in the history of education and who wrote his thesis on indigenous education policy, was suspended in May 2021 and terminated from his position in Abbotsford, B.C., on Feb. 21, 2022.

In a report leading to his termination which accused Mr. McMurtry of “extremely serious misconduct,” the school district said he had been “inflammatory, inappropriate, and insensitive” and “contrary to the school’s message of condolences and reconciliation.”

“Regardless of his intent, he left students with the impression some or all of the deaths could be contributed to ‘natural causes’ and that the deaths could not be called murder or cultural genocide.”

The report states Mr. McMurtry “proclaims” expertise regarding residential schools, but “it was apparent throughout the interview that his loyalty is to the Catholic Church and the role that they played in residential schools in Canada.”

“This practice does not contribute towards truth, reconciliation, and healing,” it said, adding he was fired because his “personal opinions regarding residential schools were seen in contradiction to the truth and reconciliation work that is currently underway in the District.”

“My ‘opinions’ are facts. Their facts—mass graves of 215 children murdered by their teachers—are wild opinions,” responded Mr. McMurtry on social media on Aug. 10.

He alleges the school district “had all its students in orange shirts, face paint and moral panic over a lie about Christian teachers murdering 215 students in just one school. I told the truth and was fired.”

“It was absolutely horrifying that they would do this to a senior teacher at the end of my career for doing something that I’m an authority on,” said Mr. McMurtry. “But even if I wasn’t, even if I said the wrong thing, that’s no way to treat a teacher.”

Schools are falling victim to “cancel culture” and “teachers are walking on eggshells,” he said.

The TRB was unable to respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

Tara MacIsaac contributed to this report.