While an anti-hate bill passed in the Senate earlier this month, an amendment that would criminalize residential school denialism did not receive the votes required to be included in the bill.
Bill C-9, dubbed the Combatting Hate Act, was introduced into the House of Commons by the minister of justice in September as a way to address hate speech and hate crimes.
On June 1, Senator Nancy Karetak-Lindell of Nunavut proposed an amendment to the bill that would criminalize statements made outside private conversation that minimize, condone or deny the Indian residential school system.
“There is no question in my mind that residential school denialism has placed doubt among Canadian citizens and has paved the way for outright racism towards Inuit, First Nations and Métis peoples,” said Senator Karetak-Lindell at the time.
She argued the proposed amendment was consistent with a recommendation from a separate Senate committee report that suggested the federal government “take every action necessary to combat the rise of residential school denialism.”
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“I am bringing this amendment forward because, as a residential school survivor myself, I understand and empathize deeply with the positions of survivors and their families who continue fighting for their right to be protected from hate, denialism, and the ongoing minimization of their lived experiences,” said Karetak-Lindell.
During a debate about the amendment, Manitoba Senator Marilou McPhedran and others expressed concern about a lack of consultation for the proposed change.
In response, Karetak-Lindell said that in drafting the amendment, she relied on existing recommendations, including testimony previously heard by the committee of senators and support expressed by the Assembly of First Nations.
“In light of all the support we’ve received on this matter, it seems that sometimes the government tends to use the duty to consult as maybe a way of delaying an already known fact,” said Karetak-Lindell.
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While condemning residential school denialism, Alberta Senator Kristopher Wells questioned whether this bill was the best avenue to pursue the criminalization of the act, as it would require the consent of the attorney general to prosecute someone for the offence, and would limit the penalty to a maximum of two years’ imprisonment.
“Two years. Does that meet the gravity of the situation and the historical trauma that we’ve been talking about, and the retraumatization?” said Wells.
“If we’re going to do this – and we should do it – do it in the right way with the right consultation to ensure that the gravity fits the situation.”
Wells pointed to a private member’s bill tabled by Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan in October 2025 as an alternative path. If passed, that bill would amend the criminal code to criminalize residential school denialism.
That bill has since moved to a petition.
In her discussion of the amendment, Karetak-Lindell noted that hatred against groups through the denial of other atrocities, such as the holocaust, is already accounted for in the criminal code.
In an interview with Cabin Radio, Stephen Kakfwi, former NWT premier and member of the We Always Remember Circle for Northern Residential School Survivors, drew a similar comparison.
In his view, failing to include residential school denialism in the criminal code is itself an act of denialism.
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“They are trying to belittle what happened to us,” said Kakfwi.
“It was a horrific effort by the government to kill every First Nation in this country by taking away their children and breaking up the families,” said Kakfwi of the residential school system.
“It should be a crime for Canadians to deny that residential schools happened – to deny that the great harm that was done didn’t actually happen.”
While Karetak-Lindell’s motion was approved in the Senate’s Human Rights Committee, it was later rejected by the Senate as a whole in a 32-41 vote.
NWT Senator Dawn Anderson wasn’t present for the vote. While she declined an interview request, her staff said the senator was travelling at the time and couldn’t participate in the vote.
