Poilievre Says Full Investigation Needed Into Potential Remains at Residential Schools

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a news conference in Vancouver on Nov. 13, 2023. The Canadian Press/Ethan Cairns

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the federal government to provide the resources necessary for a “full investigation” into alleged graves at the sites of former residential schools.

Mr. Poilievre said a proper investigation is warranted after the site of a potential burial ground found nearly three years ago in British Columbia has yet to be excavated to confirm.

“[Ottawa] should provide the resources to allow for a full investigation into the potential remains at residential schools. Canadians deserve to know the truth,” Mr. Poilievre said during a press conference on Jan. 21. “And Conservatives will always stand in favour of historical accuracy.”

The Conservative leader’s statement was in response to a reporter’s question on a series of arsons at churches across Canada, which began in 2021 after the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation claimed that ground-penetrating radar had uncovered the possible burial sites of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. The technician who did the work later revised the number to 200, acknowledging that previous excavations in the area could have influenced the results.

The announcement led to a reckoning in Canadian politics over the country’s former residential schools, which operated until the late 1990s. Some indigenous children endured physical and sexual abuse at the schools, and the Truth and Reconciliation Committee found that more than 3,200 children died while attending them.

In the months following the discovery at Kamloops, additional searches using ground-penetrating radar uncovered more possible gravesites at former schools. But none of the sites have been excavated and no bodies have been found to date, despite the Liberal government committing $320 million in funding for programs to help indigenous communities search the burial sites and to support survivors and their communities.

In July 2023, a yearlong investigation by the RCMP into unmarked graves at the Minegoziibe Anishinabe First Nation in western Manitoba found no evidence pointing towards criminal activities, despite ground-penetrating radar finding 14 points of concern underneath the Catholic church. A month later, a four-week archeological excavation at the site also uncovered no graves.

Continued Church Arsons

In the years following the discoveries at the residential schools, which were primarily operated by Catholic and Anglican churches, approximately 96 churches across Canada have been vandalized. In December 2023, four churches were destroyed by arson in Alberta alone.

In response to the church arsons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in July 2021 that it was “unacceptable and wrong,” and that the arsonists were “depriving people who are in need of grieving and healing.” He also said the anger toward the federal government and institutions like the Catholic Church was “fully understandable” given their involvement in residential schools.

Mr. Poilievre told reporters on Jan. 22 that there was “no justification” for burning down churches, regardless of “the other justifications that people would claim to use.” He said the church arsons and more recent attacks on Jewish synagogues were a symptom of the Liberal government’s Bill C-75, which emphasizes releasing detainees at the “earliest reasonable opportunity” and “on the least onerous conditions.’

“Unfortunately, these crimes against religious communities have raged out of control after eight years of Justin Trudeau, his catch-and-release system after he has divided our country and turned people and groups against each other,” Mr. Poilievre said. “We have more violence directed against religious groups, including Christians, than we have ever seen in Canadian history.”

The Conservative leader also called for stronger criminal penalties for arsonists and expanded security infrastructure around places of worship, in order to “stop terrorists who burned down churches, who attack mosques and synagogues.” Mr. Poilievre previously announced in November 2023 that his government would remove red tape from the security infrastructure program that protects places of worship and other community centres from attacks, and encourage closer cooperation between local law enforcement and federal intelligence.