Vancouver–Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie was expelled from the BC Conservative caucus after mocking residential school survivor testimony in a podcast appearance. Photo courtesy Dallas Brodie/X.

In light of BC MLA Dallas Brodie’s persistent residential school denialism—most recently through inflammatory comments on Orange Shirt Day and the promotion of a new propaganda film about residential schooling—it’s important to understand these actions as part of a broader far-right strategy.

Brodie and other residential school denialists are adopting the American far-right tactic of “flooding the zone”: overwhelming public discourse with misinformation and disinformation to erode public confidence in truth and reconciliation efforts and to defend the settler-capitalist status quo.

To help people better recognize this strategy, I joined the Redeye podcast to discuss why Brodie’s recent “zero bodies” rhetoric is yet another far-right distraction aimed at stoking anti-Indigenous hatred for political gain. As I argue in the transcript below, we share an ethical responsibility to confront and counter this harmful wave of residential school denialism.

Redeye (RE): This is the Redeye Podcast. You can hear our live broadcast on Saturday mornings from 10 till noon PST at 100.5 FM in the Lower Mainland in British Columbia.

In this episode, I’m joined by Sean Carleton to talk about who’s behind residential school denialism and the best way to counter it. Recently, the MLA for Vancouver–Quilchena, Dallas Brodie, reposted a National Post article about the former residential school site in Kamloops, adding a comment that the number of confirmed child burials at the site is “zero.” The National Post article is about James Heller, who pushed the Law Society of BC to change its training material to say that there were potentially burial sites at the former residential school in Kamloops instead of more definitive language.

Brodie is only one of a number of conservatives who have questioned the history of residential school abuse. To discuss these comments and their impact on truth and reconciliation, I’m joined by Sean Carleton, Associate Professor of History and Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba. Hello, Sean.

Sean Carleton (SC): Good morning, thanks for having me.

RE: I’m really happy you could join us today. What point are Dallas Brodie and James Heller making about the Kamloops residential school site?

SC: Well, I think what people really need to understand is that both Brodie and Heller, like other residential school denialists, are trying to use the issue of Kamloops as a wedge issue. If you look at the National Post article that Brodie tweeted out with the following statement, she says, “The number of confirmed child burials at the former Kamloops Indian residential school site is zero. Zero. No one should be afraid of the truth, not lawyers, their governing bodies or anyone else.” This is the tweet that has caused this uproar.

The issue is that, of course, the Kamloops investigation into potential unmarked burials at the former Kamloops residential school site is ongoing. They have not actually finished that investigation. And so, what........

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