Chiefs in Assembly Unanimously Pass Emergency Resolution Calling for Indian Residential School Denialism to Be Criminalized as Hate Speech

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 15, 2026

UNCEDED ALGONQUIN TERRITORY, OTTAWA, ON — Chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly have unanimously passed an Emergency Resolution calling on Canada to uphold the truth of Indian Residential School Survivors and Witnesses and to criminalize Indian Residential School denialism as hate speech against First Nations people.

The Emergency Resolution was introduced by Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias and seconded by Grand Chief Garrison Settee, acting as proxy for Chemawawin Cree Nation. Chiefs in Assembly affirmed that denialism attacks the documented truth and trauma of Survivors of Canada’s Indian Residential School system.

“We must honour the Survivors. We must remember every child who never came home. We must ensure future generations inherit the truth, not denialism,” said Chief Monias.

“It is a crime to deny the Holocaust in Canada. What about us? What about our people?” asked Grand Chief Settee. “It should be a crime in Canada to try to deny this genocide took place.”

The resolution comes after the Senate of Canada rejected an amendment to Bill C-9, often referred to as the Hate Crimes Bill, that would have included Indian Residential School denialism as a criminal offence. The rejected amendment had passed the Senate Human Rights Committee before being defeated by the Senate in June.

AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called the Senate’s decision“regressive and a setback for Survivors and for reconciliation.”

“Reconciliation is not a comfortable process. As the details of the residential school years become known, it is not surprising that these terrible events have an emotional impact on Canadians. For some, those emotions can cause people to look away and refuse these truths,” said National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak. “Denial of the wrongs committed by the government of Canada also has an emotional impact, on the survivors of residential schools as well as the families, who know what these survivors went through. It should never be forgotten that Canada, under the guise of education, used children against their parents to ensure compliance. All Canadians should want to ensure the Canada of the future never forget the mistakes of the past, so they are never repeated.”

While Canada has not recognized Indian Residential School denialism, this hate is shared every day online and in-person. Governments must offer protections.

“Residential School denialism has been widely amplifi ed in British Columbia, to the point at which anti-Indigenous hate and rhetoric is being spread in the highest levels of our government,” shared BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee. “The safety of First Nations is at stake, and no government seems to truly understand the danger First Nations face on a daily basis, simply for existing in so-called Canada. Under the United Nations Declaration Act, Canada has an obligation to align its laws with the human rights of Indigenous peoples. Canada has failed to take these steps in relation to C-9 and has failed to protect First Nations peoples from the exponential rise in anti-Indigenous hate.”

Chiefs in Assembly also called for the establishment of a complaints commission to address denialism and hate speech directed at Survivors, families, and communities.

The resolution recognizes that governments and policing authorities were complicit in the forced removal of First Nations children and in the operation of the Indian Residential School system, including through amendments to the Indian Act in 1920 that made attendance compulsory. Chiefs in Assembly are calling on the federal government to make amends by acting now to ensure denialism is recognized and addressed as hate speech.

Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict said, “This is a hopeful day. Survivors, families, and communities have carried the truth for generations, often at great personal cost. Today, the First Nations-in-Assembly stood behind them, united in the call to make denial of that truth a criminal offence.”

Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige pushed on the federal government, saying, “The federal government must recognize the gravity of its mistake in rejecting Bill C-9 and commit to furthering genuine reconciliation and the accountability of its actions. Anything less perpetuates the cycle of denialism, emboldening hate speech, and the continuation of the marginalization of our First Nation peoples. We will hold them accountable for their actions and the failure to protect the dignity and rights of our Anishinaabe (First Nation) peoples.”

In closing, the federal government continues to fail to address the ongoing legacy of hate speech towards Indian Residential School denialism in Canada. Co-development of this legislation with First Nations is the only path forward to finally make denialism a crime.

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