On Sept. 8, The Rebel’s Drea Humphrey reported that 3 more Christian Churches had gone up in flames in Canada over the previous 2 weeks. This, she said, meant that over 130 such churches had either been burnt or vandalized since the charge levied in 2021 that Canada’s Residential Schools, run by both Catholic and Protestant clergymen, had been rife with Cruelty and Genocidal in intent. While in some cases the Indigenous perpetrators of these crimes have been identified and arrested, many of the incidents have gone suspiciously unexplained.
In 2021, Sept. 30 was declared Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day on which the country both acknowledges the horrors of its Residential School System while honoring those who were victimized by it. Yet as reported by The Rebel on Oct. 1, the previous evening had seen the burning of All Saints Orthodox Church in the small town of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, a town bordering the reserve of The Flying Dust First Nation. As of a few days ago, the cause of the fire had not been confirmed and representatives of the 68 year old church had urged their parishioners not to make baseless accusations. Pardon my logic, but would it not be absurd to assume the burning of this church on Truth and Reconciliation Day was a mere coincidence, rather than another in the series of criminal acts of vengeance perpetrated by the Indigenous and their supporters over the last 5 years?
As reported by True North on Oct. 2, it had published 2 widely read works, “Grave Error” and “Dead Wrong,” which, while admitting that they were hardly perfect, repudiated the narrative that Canada’s Residential Schools were genocidally motivated. This is a Verifiable Fact too complex to fully explain here. On the one hand, the 2021 declaration that “ground penetrating radar” had revealed the graves of 215 children buried next to the Kamloops School, has not been validated. But far more disturbing is the fact that inasmuch as thousands of Indigenous Canadians died in the 19th C. as a result of diseases introduced by their European conquerors, diseases which their immune systems simply could not handle, the Kamloops graves, even if validated, might have absolutely nothing to do with the cruelty of those running that Residential School!
With True North and most sensible Canadians, I agree that there must have been some abusive, condescending racists among those charged with educating Canada’s Indigenous. But many of the latter have come forward and testified to the benefits both they and their ancestors derived from their time in the Residential Schools. This is a Fact and not the ranting of some Racist Jerk! But while Canada’s treatment of its Indians is a complex issue not subject to simplistic Black and White valuations, the Left is in fact addicted to such, those deemed to have been “oppressed” always excused of rational appraisal simply because of their condition as such.
Leah Gazan, an Indigenous NDP member of parliament from Winnipeg, recently introduced a bill asking the federal government to criminalize any statement of Residential School Denialism. This included even the expression of opinions seeking to “downplay” the horrors of the schools by pointing out the complexities behind both their expressed purpose and actual histories. No, no, no, says Gazan. If you don’t agree with me, you are a criminal! The issue, she says, is not about Free Speech but Hate Speech! Her “logic” is sadly typical of the contemporary Left which, when the Facts do not support its narrative, simply resorts to Name-Calling!
Canadian conservatives intent on highlighting the Hypocrisy of the Left cite the fact that the “progressive” Mainstream Media has not made a major issue of the assault on Canada’s Churches. Apparently that assault is not born of Hatred but of a desire for Social Justice! Criminal Acts, in other words, are perfectly justifiable to those addicted to the simplistic world-view of Karl Marx. Such would seem to be the ludicrous Mindset of those who have come to dominate the Culture of the Contemporary West! Horrific crimes are only to be reviled when perpetrated by members of the Privileged Majority. Criminal acts perpetrated by their victims are apparently okay. Truly Absurd!