Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie’s comments denying the legacy of residential schools have been condemned by members of both the Conservative and New Democratic parties, including North Coast–Haida Gwaii MLA Tamara Davidson.
Brodie has introduced several private member’s bills focused on removing efforts to reconcile with First Nations including removing land acknowledgments, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and to repeal the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Originally elected as a Conservative, Brodie was removed from the party’s caucus after appearing on a podcast where he mocked and belittled the testimony of a residential school survivor.
Brodie has been criticized by many people, including North Coast-Haida Gwaii MLA Tamara Davidson who said the denialist rhetoric is damaging to all British Columbians.
“We’re really focused in on what changes we can make to really help people. Denialism is not helping anyone, it’s really trying to take us backwards. We went through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and there were so many stories that the survivors brought forward, and for them to have the courage and the bravery to talk about what happened to them and the atrocities that happened at residential schools. It’s really unbelievable to me that people could even deny that this really happened here in Canada. And it’s part of our history here in British Columbia.”
