Survivor calls out Conservative candidate over residential school comments

A Liberal candidate is calling on the Conservative Party to renounce controversial candidate Aaron Gunn over his views on residential schools and genocide. Charlie Fox, a survivor who is running in the northwestern Ontario riding of Kenora-Kiiwetinoong, says the B.C.’s candidate’s remarks cannot stand. “As a survivor of the awful experiences endured in residential schools, it is profoundly offensive to witness the Conservative Party endorsing a candidate who trivializes the cultural genocide inflicted upon Indigenous peoples,” Fox said in a statement Thursday. “Residential school denialism goes beyond misinformation—it’s a direct assault on the realities faced by survivors and their families, undermining many years of dedicated work towards truth and reconciliation.” Fox, who is a former chief of Michikan Sagaigun (Bearskin Lake), attended the Shingwauk Residential School in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Gunn, who is running in North Island Powell River, has said on social media that while Canada developed the residential school system, the harm that was done didn’t make it a “genocidal” state. He said residential schools were “asked for by Indigenous bands”. “There was no genocide. Stop lying to people and read a book. The Holocaust was a genocide. Get off Twitter and learn more about the world,” he wrote in an Oct. 20, 2022 tweet. Despite repeated requests for comment, Gunn has not responded to APTN News. For more than 100 years, an estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and put into religious, state-run institutions. According to survivors who testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), many were abused and lost touch with their culture and communities. The TRC’s 2016 final report concluded the residential school system was a “cultural genocide.” Read More:  Former vice chief of UBCIC calls for removal of Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn First Nations leaders in B.C. have been calling for Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre to end Gunn’s candidacy. Poilievre has refused. On Thursday, a member of the Conservative Electoral District Association Board of Directors resigned his seat over issues with the party – and Gunn. “During my time on the board, I encountered numerous instances where anti-Indigenous sentiments went unchallenged,” said Andrew Puglas in a statement. “When I hear comments like those from Aaron Gunn referring to Indigenous governance as a ‘mickey mouse monarchy,’ it confirms that Indigenous concerns are not respected.” In early April, a group of leaders issued a letter noting Gunn has also made harmful comments about LGBTQ rights, as it represents threats to Canadian sovereignty through his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and American businessman Elon Musk. Gunn backtracked on his support for the Russian leader and Wednesday, defended himself on social media. “I’d like to clear up what has been said today. I have always been firm in recognizing the truly horrific events that transpired in residential schools, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is simply false,” the post states. But Fox said Gunn“threatens to undermine public trust in established truths and further fuel societal division. “This issue transcends politics; it is fundamentally a moral obligation. By supporting a candidate who engages in denialism, the Conservatives convey a disregard for the lived experiences of survivors and the parliamentary consensus recognizing residential schools as a form of genocide,” Fox said. Before Parliament was prorogued by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, the NDP had introduced a law to criminalize residential school denialism. With files from Leanne Sanders Continue Reading