Michelle Cyca wrote a long essay for The Walrus which begins with the 215-pairs-of-shoes memorial on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery, commemorating the Kamloops Residential School claim of unmarked graves. She then proceeds to denounce historians who demand historical evidence over unsubstantiated claims of former students and First Nations’ reports based on Ground Penetrating Radar disturbances..Along the way, Cyca also suggests dissenting historians are somehow cashing in. This is ironic and tragic, as Canadian indigenous grievances have been addressed with successive outlays of billions of tax dollars, apologies and efforts to reconcile with those whose suffering has been accepted by several commissions, with no evidence or cross-examination required. In other words, testimonies have been accepted in good faith. Many people who were harmed have been compensated. Others have cashed in..Until now good faith was the guiding principle..Now many Canadians are calling for a full stop to this grievance industry..It is one thing for individuals to express their suffering, loss, humiliation and be compensated (as far as is possible, so long after the fact) and quite another to accuse Canada, the nation formerly renowned as global peacekeepers, as guilty of genocide..As is common in such articles, Cyca sets no historical context whatsoever and only mentions tuberculosis once, as if this grim reaper was a sidebar. It is central to the deaths of millions of people since recorded history in the days of Herodotus and, until 1960, TB was the greatest killer of all Canadians..In addition to the children whose parents registered them for attendance at Indian Residential Schools, the facilities were often inundated with children who had been orphaned by parents dying of TB. Indian Residential Schools, as explained by eminent Canadian historian Robert Carney, father of Mark Carney, were the social services and medical hub of the day. They took in the suffering and did their best, as per their Christian vows of service and love, to provide what they could. But people did die in greater numbers prior to modern medicine. And in those times, despite detailed records of registered student deaths, people were often buried unknown. There are likely unmarked graves, even mass graves. This does not constitute genocide..Likewise, as the agreed-upon intention of parents and the schools was to provide education and acculturation to the children for integration into the developing agro-industrial society, and then return the children home, there was no genocide..Historians and historical evidence of countless documents, including the documentation of the National Truth and Reconciliation Committee website, show this..But The Walrus article by Michelle Cyca does not reflect these facts. The Walrus is a registered charity funded by Canadian tax dollars and government..So, I guess, let us apply what Cyca says about those with dissenting views on Indian Residential Schools to the Walrus ‘charity’ and see how it fits: “And it doesn’t hurt there is money to be made in peddling contrarian views, particularly when they validate the egos of fragile people preoccupied with their own irreproachable goodness.”.The Walrus claims to be a “registered charitable non-profit with an educational mandate to create forums for conversations on matters vital to Canadians.” I guess a magazine that leaves out vital facts is a reality denier. This is an organization that claims in their CRA description: “The Walrus Foundation publishes independent, fact-based journalism…”.While I am critical of this work of Michelle Cyca, I condemn the lack of editorial due diligence by the staff at The Walrus, particularly because it's a Canadian ‘charity’ that's not only taking money from the pockets of taxpaying Canadians to vilify those same taxpayers, but also because the editors are doing a terrible job of making sure stories have journalistic and historical integrity. I count 12 people in their editorial department (though one is on leave.).Surely, as per CRA filings, with a total revenues of $6,119,258 a year, of which $1,171,989 (19.15%) comes from government and $851,423 (13.91%) are gifts from other registered charities, someone could research the impact of TB at the time..Jodi Butts, wife of Gerald Butts, is the chair of The Walrus board. Gerald Butts and his former mates at The Strathmere Group of environmental non-governmental ‘charities’ and non-profits are keen to implement ‘nature-based climate solutions’ in Canada. In other words, as Stephen Harper used to warn, they want to turn Canada into a giant carbon trading park, rather like The Great Bear Rainforest..Indeed, one way is to also manufacture the claim of a climate emergency to tie these things together. As noted in the Nature Climate Solutions conference 2020, attended by most major ENGOs and activist indigenous groups:.“As part of a “how to save the earth” group, the indigenous people gave a simple piece of advice: “It’s easy to save the earth: give it back to the red people.””.To get to this, Canadians must be guilted into foregoing the resource riches that would ordinarily finance our ever-expanding federal debt, your health care, our military, and your children’s future. “Genocide” is a quick and shocking way to get most Canadians to say to indigenous activist groups, “We’re sorry. Here. We agree you should have our land back as reparations.”.The green crony capitalists who back these ENGOs will be happy to then feast on the rare earth minerals and resources adjacent to many First Nations reserves, or to cash in on carbon trading. They will be the winners in the global rare minerals war, while Canada, as a nation will be economically destroyed, and indigenous people will be cast aside once their usefulness as levers in the commodities war expires..So, I’d question The Walrus as independent. Fact-based. Really?.Just as I dispute the claim of genocide applied to Indian Residential Schools. And I do this for no money at all, just a love of history, freedom and my country, Canada, that my predecessors fought and died for..BTW I’m all for freedom of the press..If The Walrus wants to publish irrational, unscholarly, unserious inflammatory articles about Indian Residential Schools, they should have every right to do so. But not on taxpayer’s dollars. That’s paid disinformation — you know, the thing the government says it's worried about..Michelle Stirling is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists. She researched, wrote, and co-produced historical shows about Southern Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Hugh Dempsey, then curator of the Glenbow Museum.
Michelle Cyca wrote a long essay for The Walrus which begins with the 215-pairs-of-shoes memorial on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery, commemorating the Kamloops Residential School claim of unmarked graves. She then proceeds to denounce historians who demand historical evidence over unsubstantiated claims of former students and First Nations’ reports based on Ground Penetrating Radar disturbances..Along the way, Cyca also suggests dissenting historians are somehow cashing in. This is ironic and tragic, as Canadian indigenous grievances have been addressed with successive outlays of billions of tax dollars, apologies and efforts to reconcile with those whose suffering has been accepted by several commissions, with no evidence or cross-examination required. In other words, testimonies have been accepted in good faith. Many people who were harmed have been compensated. Others have cashed in..Until now good faith was the guiding principle..Now many Canadians are calling for a full stop to this grievance industry..It is one thing for individuals to express their suffering, loss, humiliation and be compensated (as far as is possible, so long after the fact) and quite another to accuse Canada, the nation formerly renowned as global peacekeepers, as guilty of genocide..As is common in such articles, Cyca sets no historical context whatsoever and only mentions tuberculosis once, as if this grim reaper was a sidebar. It is central to the deaths of millions of people since recorded history in the days of Herodotus and, until 1960, TB was the greatest killer of all Canadians..In addition to the children whose parents registered them for attendance at Indian Residential Schools, the facilities were often inundated with children who had been orphaned by parents dying of TB. Indian Residential Schools, as explained by eminent Canadian historian Robert Carney, father of Mark Carney, were the social services and medical hub of the day. They took in the suffering and did their best, as per their Christian vows of service and love, to provide what they could. But people did die in greater numbers prior to modern medicine. And in those times, despite detailed records of registered student deaths, people were often buried unknown. There are likely unmarked graves, even mass graves. This does not constitute genocide..Likewise, as the agreed-upon intention of parents and the schools was to provide education and acculturation to the children for integration into the developing agro-industrial society, and then return the children home, there was no genocide..Historians and historical evidence of countless documents, including the documentation of the National Truth and Reconciliation Committee website, show this..But The Walrus article by Michelle Cyca does not reflect these facts. The Walrus is a registered charity funded by Canadian tax dollars and government..So, I guess, let us apply what Cyca says about those with dissenting views on Indian Residential Schools to the Walrus ‘charity’ and see how it fits: “And it doesn’t hurt there is money to be made in peddling contrarian views, particularly when they validate the egos of fragile people preoccupied with their own irreproachable goodness.”.The Walrus claims to be a “registered charitable non-profit with an educational mandate to create forums for conversations on matters vital to Canadians.” I guess a magazine that leaves out vital facts is a reality denier. This is an organization that claims in their CRA description: “The Walrus Foundation publishes independent, fact-based journalism…”.While I am critical of this work of Michelle Cyca, I condemn the lack of editorial due diligence by the staff at The Walrus, particularly because it's a Canadian ‘charity’ that's not only taking money from the pockets of taxpaying Canadians to vilify those same taxpayers, but also because the editors are doing a terrible job of making sure stories have journalistic and historical integrity. I count 12 people in their editorial department (though one is on leave.).Surely, as per CRA filings, with a total revenues of $6,119,258 a year, of which $1,171,989 (19.15%) comes from government and $851,423 (13.91%) are gifts from other registered charities, someone could research the impact of TB at the time..Jodi Butts, wife of Gerald Butts, is the chair of The Walrus board. Gerald Butts and his former mates at The Strathmere Group of environmental non-governmental ‘charities’ and non-profits are keen to implement ‘nature-based climate solutions’ in Canada. In other words, as Stephen Harper used to warn, they want to turn Canada into a giant carbon trading park, rather like The Great Bear Rainforest..Indeed, one way is to also manufacture the claim of a climate emergency to tie these things together. As noted in the Nature Climate Solutions conference 2020, attended by most major ENGOs and activist indigenous groups:.“As part of a “how to save the earth” group, the indigenous people gave a simple piece of advice: “It’s easy to save the earth: give it back to the red people.””.To get to this, Canadians must be guilted into foregoing the resource riches that would ordinarily finance our ever-expanding federal debt, your health care, our military, and your children’s future. “Genocide” is a quick and shocking way to get most Canadians to say to indigenous activist groups, “We’re sorry. Here. We agree you should have our land back as reparations.”.The green crony capitalists who back these ENGOs will be happy to then feast on the rare earth minerals and resources adjacent to many First Nations reserves, or to cash in on carbon trading. They will be the winners in the global rare minerals war, while Canada, as a nation will be economically destroyed, and indigenous people will be cast aside once their usefulness as levers in the commodities war expires..So, I’d question The Walrus as independent. Fact-based. Really?.Just as I dispute the claim of genocide applied to Indian Residential Schools. And I do this for no money at all, just a love of history, freedom and my country, Canada, that my predecessors fought and died for..BTW I’m all for freedom of the press..If The Walrus wants to publish irrational, unscholarly, unserious inflammatory articles about Indian Residential Schools, they should have every right to do so. But not on taxpayer’s dollars. That’s paid disinformation — you know, the thing the government says it's worried about..Michelle Stirling is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists. She researched, wrote, and co-produced historical shows about Southern Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Hugh Dempsey, then curator of the Glenbow Museum.
