NDP MP calls for emergency debate over White nationalism, anti-Indigenous racism

On the heels of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, NDP MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) is calling for an emergency debate in the House of Commons over White nationalism and anti-Indigenous racism. “There is an urgent need for an Emergency Debate to allow Parliamentarians to respond to the attacks on the truth of what happened in residential schools, the escalating attacks that pose a grave threat to the physical and psychological safety of survivors, families and our nations,” Gazan wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons Francis Scarpaleggia. Days before the NDTR, a white nationalist organization called the Second Sons of Canada showed on Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc (TteS) territory. The participants who all had their faces covered, later hung a banner across a local bridge that read “Got Bones?” in reference to the 215 anomalies identified beside the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Gazan called the display, “a cowardly attempt to avoid accountability for actions and messages that are clearly intended to intimidate, provoke fear and division.” “The statement on the banner is a reference to the disproven “mass grave hoax” conspiracy – an overt form of residential school denialism, seeking to dismiss established evidence and erase documented history of a genocide recognized unanimously by the House of Commons in 2022.” In October 2025, Gazan tabled a private members’ bill that would make it a criminal offence any language “wilfully promoting hatred against Indigenous peoples by condoning, denying, downplaying or justifying the Indian residential school system in Canada through statements communicated other than in private conversation.” The bill has only had one reading in the House of Commons since being introduced. Rarely does a proposed law, other than one from the government, pass in the House of Commons. The federal government is non-committal about criminalizing the kind of language and acts Gazan is talking about. Some First Nations chiefs have asked the Liberal government to introduce a similar bill, which would be more likely to pass. Indigenous Services Canada Minister Mandy Gull-Masty would not commit to that at a news conference in Ottawa on Sept. 28. “While I acknowledge that the opposition is taking a position and trying to move something forward, that comes from them,” Gull-Masty said. “We have to be led by community to ensure that the decisions we make are truly reflective of what they want to receive in terms of support.” Prime Minister Mark Carney called the display in Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc territory, “cowardly.” In June, Sen. Nancy Karetak-Lindell (Nunavut), a residential school survivor herself, had proposed an amendment to a hate crime bill that was being examined in the Senate. She wanted residential school denialism included in the legislation. While it passed in the human rights committee, it was voted down 32 to 41 in the Senate. Gazan said Canada is continuing to fail to live up to its agreements with Indigenous Peoples. She said the “harrowing demonstration” in B.C. “underscores the threat that residential school denialism and white nationalism pose to the safety of Indigenous peoples; it is classified as an emergency and a matter of urgent consideration for Parliament.” The NDP MP also referenced a report by the Permanent People’s Tribunal that said “Canada committed the international crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity against Indigenous peoples, and that these crimes continue into the present. “The ruling also stated that Canada continues to fail to comply with its international legal obligations to respond to these crimes and has been reluctant to counter denialist misinformation.” For an emergency debate to take place, the issue “must relate to a genuine emergency” according to the House of Commons website. The Speaker decides whether a debate will proceed. Nothing said during an emergency debate is binding on the government. With files from the Canadian Press.  Continue Reading