This article was originally published by Wendy McElroy at The Mises Institute.
The scandal surrounding Canada’s Kamloops Indian Residential School (1890-1969, British Columbia) is an ultra-cautionary tale about the damage inflicted by self-interested politicians and activists, backed by a media that toes the line. The 2021 scandal sprang from the alleged discovery of 215 graves of indigenous children. They were said to have died under suspicious circumstances at the Catholic-run school and then buried in unmarked graves behind the facility. Kamloops was one of the largest schools in the residential system through which Indigenous children were culturally deprogrammed and indoctrinated to mold them into “proper” Canadians.
When the story broke, the press fell over itself in a race to sensationalism. CBC News on May 28 declared, “Remains of 215 children found buried at former B.C. residential school, First Nation says.” The Toronto Star announced on May 28, “The remains of 215 children have been found. Now, Indigenous leaders say, Canada must help find the rest of the unmarked graves.” The international press jumped on the speeding news train with their own headlines, such as “‘Horrible History’: Mass Grave of Indigenous Children Reported in Canada’” from The New York Times on May 31.
Actually, no graves had been discovered; their existence was extrapolated from “anomalies” in the earth found by ground-penetrating radar. Such anomalies are commonplace, however, and usually indicate a tree root, a large rock, or some other innocuous presence. Today, after three years and almost $8 million of publicly unaccountable funds being expended, no graves have been found. No one has bothered to even start the digging necessary to verify anything.
Evidence is optional in the court of opinion
The world was ready to believe without evidence. The residential school system was a horrific page of Canadian history and an act of cultural assault if not cultural genocide. Perhaps this
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