REAL Indigenous Report

The following piece was composed by yours truly. REAL Indigenous Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Chief Trevor Mercredi was joined by other Treaty 8 First Nations chiefs speaking to reporters.

On the first day of its annual general meeting, July 14-16, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) passed an emergency resolution calling for Canada to criminalize residential school denialism. The resolution, passed during the AFN’s annual general assembly in Ottawa, urges the government to amend the Combating Hate Act or create new legislation to address this issue. The AFN argues that denialism is a form of hate speech that reopens wounds for survivors and fuels anti-Indigenous racism.

Because the Jews of the world — unlike the so-called Palestinians — are among the most ancient inhabitants of the biblical land of Israel, not its “settler-colonists,” I added a section to my newsletter titled REAL Israel & Palestine Report, whose aim is to present a R(realistic) E(evidential) A(authentic) L(logical) analysis of the current conflict between Israel and the Jewish people, wherever they live, and their many regional and international enemies.

Award-winning political theorist and policy expert William Barclay rightly argues that there is a large, organized, and growing movement of zealots who are threatening, physically persecuting, and otherwise oppressing conservatives in Canada, led by violent, fanatical, and know-nothing left-wing activists. He also correctly claims that the Liberal government and legacy media have labelled conservatives as extremists, leading to physical attacks and the violent suppression of their rights.

Gifted thinker Randy Crossman argues against making the vague concept called “residential school denialism” a criminal offence, stating that it would criminalize historical debate and infringe on freedom of expression. He highlights the importance of open inquiry in democratic societies and the risk that such a law could be misused to prosecute competing historical interpretations.

The following piece is simply another example of a paradigm clash, which occurs when two fundamentally incompatible systems of belief and “knowing” contradict one another.

Distinguished scholar Rodney Clifton rightly points out a perceived double standard in Canada’s response to hate crimes against religious communities. While attacks on Jewish communities have received swift condemnation, increased funding, and promises of tougher enforcement, the widespread desecration and burning of Christian churches over the past five years have been met with a more muted reaction.

Because the Jews of the world — unlike the so-called Palestinians — are among the most ancient inhabitants of the biblical land of Israel, not its “settler-colonists,” I added a section to my newsletter titled REAL Israel & Palestine Report, whose aim is to present a R(realistic) E(evidential) A(authentic) L(logical) analysis of the current conflict between Israel and the Jewish people, wherever they live, and their many regional and international enemies.

Yet another thoughtful piece about the notorious Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal from super-sleuth Nina Green. REAL Indigenous Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

According to the National Post’s Michael Higgins, five years after the Kamloops controversy, Indian Band chiefs are pushing to criminalize residential school denialism, proposing penalties of up to two years in prison. In brief excerpts from his NP piece posted below, he sees this push as an attempt to stifle debate and restrict free speech. This is because it implies that denying the presence of bodies at Kamloops should be prosecuted as a crime.