Conservative Dallas Brodie, MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena, said Monday (Feb. 24) that she is standing by social media posts in support of a lawyer.
Brodie, who is her party's attorney general critic, has been questioning the "apparent mistreatment" of James Heller after he had asked for the rewording of Law Society training material about residential schools.
Brodie said in her post defending Heller that she was 91裸聊视频渃ompelled to act91裸聊视频� as the attorney general critic to ensure lawyers are 91裸聊视频渇ree to insist upon facts91裸聊视频� in the legal system.
91裸聊视频淭he number of confirmed child burials at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site is zero,91裸聊视频� her post said. 91裸聊视频淐an we trust our legal system if lawyers are no longer free to insist upon the facts?91裸聊视频�
The Tk91裸聊视频檈ml煤ps te Secwepemc First Nation said in 2021 that ground penetrating radar provided 91裸聊视频渃onfirmation of the remains of 215 children91裸聊视频� at the school site but last year said the radar found 91裸聊视频渃onfirmation of 215 anomalies.91裸聊视频�
B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Christine Boyle responded on social media by calling Brodie91裸聊视频檚 comments 91裸聊视频渁bhorrent behaviour91裸聊视频� and says there is 91裸聊视频渘o place in B.C. for residential school denialism.91裸聊视频�
Brodie said the point of her tweet was not to deny the suffering caused by residential schools.
"Our hearts ache for all of those children," she said. She added that she was not trying to hurt anybody. She added that the history of the residential school system is well-documented through the Truth and Reconcilation Commission. "But there are two words in that -- truth and reconciliation -- and it's very important that we stick to the truth. So if down the road, there are physical remains discovered (at the Kamloops site), then there might be another discussion. But at this point, there hasn't been any."
Brodie also addressed Boyle's comments. "Once someone starts calling you names, that's a way of discussing the actual issue," Brodie said.
Conservative Party Leader John Rustad said Monday morning that he talked to Brodie about her posts.
91裸聊视频淲hen the tweets were first put up, I was concerned that they may be misinterpreted as opposed to being about the fact that there hasn91裸聊视频檛 been any graves at that particular site or any bodies at that particular site exhumed or found versus the whole issue of the residential school, so I was concerned about that and asked her to take it down because of that concern,91裸聊视频� Rustad said. 91裸聊视频淗owever, it doesn91裸聊视频檛 change the facts that there hasn91裸聊视频檛 been anything found at these sites, but it also doesn91裸聊视频檛 change the facts that of the tragedy that has been residential schools.91裸聊视频�
Brodie said she did not take the tweet down because taking it down would have made it look as if she would not stand behind what she wrote. She also rejected suggestions that her refusal to take the down tweet undermines Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad. "I think it is okay to stand on my own two feet and stand by what I wrote."
Brodie added that she was not intending to hurt anybody. "(Except) for if it is not true, then people need to know that this is not true." She added that Heller's reputation has been unfairly damaged over this issue.
Brodie said it was legitimate for Rustad to ask her to take down the tweet. "We definitely have different points of views in our caucus and I actually think John is quite supportive of that. (Some) of those things are awkward, for sure, but I also have always been a person that has really believed in truth. (Particularly) as a defence lawyer, we have to be able to ask questions, we have to be able to get to evidence and we have to get to the truth of things, not my truth or your truth, the truth."
Brodie91裸聊视频檚 posts shared a link to an article about Heller, who unsuccessfully pushed last year for the society91裸聊视频檚 training material to say there were 91裸聊视频減otentially91裸聊视频� burial sites at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., instead of using more definitive language.
Heller is now suing the society over what he calls 91裸聊视频渇alse and defamatory91裸聊视频� imputations of racism that he says the society republished.
Brodie said on social media that she91裸聊视频檒l reach out to B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma and the Law Society of British Columbia in the coming days about the situation facing lawyer James Heller.
The Law Society and the Tk91裸聊视频檈mlups te Secwepemc First Nation have not responded to requests for comment, while Heller declined to speak on the record.
Brodie had previously drawn criticism for comments made when she was running as a candidate in Vancouver-Quilchena in last fall91裸聊视频檚 B.C. election.
She said that when 91裸聊视频減eople say they want to be First Nations,91裸聊视频� that comes with the responsibility to take care of people in the Downtown Eastside.
Rustad also acknowledged the thousands of Indigenous children who were taken from their homes and the thousands who did not return home and died at the residential schools.
91裸聊视频淭ragically as part of this, they decided at the time not to send the deceased home for burial. They buried them on site, so just about every residential school across the country has a cemetery for children who passed 91裸聊视频� That91裸聊视频檚 just the facts.91裸聊视频�
Canada91裸聊视频檚 special interlocutor on unmarked graves and missing children said in a report last year that despite the 91裸聊视频渨ell-documented reality91裸聊视频� of residential school deaths, some Canadians have made a concerted effort to attack the truths of survivors, Indigenous families and communities.
The report by Kimberly Murray says the Tk91裸聊视频檈mlups te Secwepemc made an announcement 91裸聊视频渃onfirming that up to 215 potential unmarked burials91裸聊视频� took place at the Kamloops school site, resulting in global attention for the issue.
More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996.
The Canadian Press
91裸聊视频� With files from Black Press Media
