‘Deni­al­ism’ law ‘the oppos­ite of the spirit of recon­cili­ation’

ode

24 Jul 2026

Law­yer settles suit over ‘graves’

‘Deni­al­ism’ law ‘the oppos­ite of the spirit of recon­cili­ation’

MICHAEL HIGGINS Com­ment

Law­yer settles suit over ‘graves’

‘Deni­al­ism’ law ‘the oppos­ite of the spirit of recon­cili­ation’

[Would-be Indian cesnors want to send you to jail for questioning this gobbledegook: “

He said he recently vis­ited the Kam­loops site and that First Nations did not have to prove there were bod­ies by exhum­ing them.

“They are there and they send us mes­sages telling us they’re there,” he said. “You can tell they’re there, right? Feel the power and the energy. For some­body that’s not from our com­munit­ies, that doesn’t under­stand our cul­ture, you can­not under­stand what that means.”]

24 Jul 2026

Mak­ing crim­in­als out of people who merely ask ques­tions about the res­id­en­tial school sys­tem is not the path to recon­cili­ation, says B.C. law­yer Jim Heller.

Good­will and open dia­logue are needed far more than try­ing to imprison people under a “deni­al­ism” law, accord­ing to Heller, whose defam­a­tion suit against his own law soci­ety over poten­tial graves at the former Kam­loops Indian Res­id­en­tial School was recently settled.

Heller sees the Kam­loops con­tro­versy as a soci­etal sick­ness where facts and truth are side­lined in favour of ideo­logy.

“As a law­yer, it is all about pro­mot­ing, devel­op­ing, respect­ing and fine-tun­ing a pro­cess, all in order to ask a ques­tion. That’s what it’s all about, this kind of rig­or­ous, ana­lyt­ical, open, rational think­ing. And that is the found­a­tion of everything. It’s so fun­da­mental,” he said in an inter­view Tues­day.

But rigour and ana­lysis are now absent in many parts of our insti­tu­tions, leav­ing them open to attack from out­side forces, he said.

“There’s a weak­en­ing and a sick­ness in our soci­ety, and it’s just kind of per­meated the insti­tu­tions,” Heller said.

“It’s got to be cured. But maybe that won’t hap­pen. Maybe we’re just soften­ing so that we’ll have so little res­ist­ance for whatever’s next, whether it’s the Islami­fic­a­tion of Canada or the CCP (Chinese Com­mun­ist Party) or some sort of con­trols we can’t even anti­cip­ate.”

Heller found him­self in a battle with the Law Soci­ety of Brit­ish Columbia (LSBC) over anom­alies dis­covered by ground-pen­et­rat­ing radar at the former Kam­loops Res­id­en­tial School. He objec­ted to man­dat­ory law soci­ety edu­ca­tional mater­i­als that con­tained the phrase, “On May 27, 2021, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation repor­ted the dis­cov­ery of an unmarked burial site con­tain­ing the bod­ies of 215 chil­dren on the former Kam­loops Indian Res­id­en­tial School grounds.”

When Heller sub­mit­ted a res­ol­u­tion to the law soci­ety’s annual gen­eral meet­ing stat­ing that no graves had been dis­covered and ask­ing the LSBC to insert the word “poten­tial” when dis­cuss­ing the anom­alies, he sud­denly found him­self under attack. One critic was the BC First Nations Justice Coun­cil, which issued a state­ment ref­er­en­cing a “grow­ing dis­il­lu­sioned sect” that was using “deni­al­ism” to down­play the hor­rors of res­id­en­tial schools.

Heller claimed the LSBC pos­ted a link to the press release in an online state­ment know­ing it was defam­at­ory. His law­suit alleged the LSBC refused to take down the press release and issue an apo­logy and a retrac­tion.

We need good­will, the pre­sump­tion of good­will so we can have some real dia­logue.

The law soci­ety denied defam­ing Heller as his suit moved through the courts. The case has now been settled, although the terms are con­fid­en­tial.

In May this year, the law soci­ety issued a cla­ri­fic­a­tion stat­ing that “to the degree it was under­stood by some to have defamed Mr. Heller, the Law Soci­ety wishes to con­firm that was not its inten­tion.”

What is so utterly bizarre about the case is that Heller was only try­ing to insert the word “poten­tial” in rela­tion to the graves, which would have been truth­ful and fac­tual. No graves and no bod­ies have been found at the site des­pite a press release in 2021 from the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc that talked of “the remains of 215 chil­dren” at Kam­loops.

As Heller poin­ted out, even the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc has changed the way it dis­cusses the mat­ter, now opt­ing for terms like “poten­tial graves” and “anom­alies” at Kam­loops.

The danger for people like Heller is that they would almost cer­tainly find them­selves in the crosshairs of the law should “deni­al­ism” of res­id­en­tial schools get into the Crim­inal Code.

Last week, First Nations held a press con­fer­ence to call for a ban on res­id­en­tial school deni­al­ism, echo­ing a recent failed attempt by a sen­ator to make it illegal for any­one to engage in the “con­don­ing, deny­ing or down­play­ing” of res­id­en­tial schools, with a pro­posed max­imum pen­alty of two years’ impris­on­ment.

Dur­ing the press con­fer­ence, Man­itoba Kee­wat­inowi Oki­makanak Grand Chief Gar­rison Settee said Canada was per­petu­at­ing hate by not passing a deni­al­ism law.

He said he recently vis­ited the Kam­loops site and that First Nations did not have to prove there were bod­ies by exhum­ing them.

“They are there and they send us mes­sages telling us they’re there,” he said. “You can tell they’re there, right? Feel the power and the energy. For some­body that’s not from our com­munit­ies, that doesn’t under­stand our cul­ture, you can­not under­stand what that means.”

Such a stance does not sit well with Heller.

“He’s say­ing, ‘We know this is true. The dead kids are there; they’re talk­ing to us.’ That’s one thing for them to have that kind of out­rageous belief and to make a point of doing a press con­fer­ence,” said Heller, “but you com­bine that with, ‘And we’re going to court to make it illegal for you to even raise an eye­brow about that.’ Well that’s pretty incred­ible.”

Heller added that First Nations “speak in terms of poten­tial and anom­alies, but they still won’t have a dis­cus­sion. That’s ridicu­lous. The very fact that you’re using tent­at­ive lan­guage is like an invit­a­tion to talk.

“This is the oppos­ite of the spirit of recon­cili­ation. It’s just crazy. We need good­will, the pre­sump­tion of good­will so we can have some real dia­logue.”

Unfor­tu­nately, con­struct­ive dia­logue, dis­cus­sion and dis­course are sadly lack­ing in today’s Canada.

National Post – (Latest Edition)

24 Jul 2026

Page 1

Lawyer settles suit over ‘graves’

‘Denialism’ law ‘the opposite of the spirit of reconciliation’

• National Post – (Latest Edition)
• 24 Jul 2026
• MICHAEL HIGGINS Comment

Making criminals out of people who merely ask questions about the residential school system is not the path to reconciliation, says B.C. lawyer Jim Heller.

Goodwill and open dialogue are needed far more than trying to imprison people under a “denialism” law, according to Heller, whose defamation suit against his own law society over potential graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School was recently settled.

Heller sees the Kamloops controversy as a societal sickness where facts and truth are sidelined in favour of ideology.

“As a lawyer, it is all about promoting, developing, respecting and fine-tuning a process, all in order to ask a question. That’s what it’s all about, this kind of rigorous, analytical, open, rational thinking. And that is the foundation of everything. It’s so fundamental,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

But rigour and analysis are now absent in many parts of our institutions, leaving them open to attack from outside forces, he said.

“There’s a weakening and a sickness in our society, and it’s just kind of permeated the institutions,” Heller said.

“It’s got to be cured. But maybe that won’t happen. Maybe we’re just softening so that we’ll have so little resistance for whatever’s next, whether it’s the Islamification of Canada or the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) or some sort of controls we can’t even anticipate.”

Heller found himself in a battle with the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) over anomalies discovered by ground-penetrating radar at the former Kamloops Residential School. He objected to mandatory law society educational materials that contained the phrase, “On May 27, 2021, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation reported the discovery of an unmarked burial site containing the bodies of 215 children on the former Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds.”

When Heller submitted a resolution to the law society’s annual general meeting stating that no graves had been discovered and asking the LSBC to insert the word “potential” when discussing the anomalies, he suddenly found himself under attack. One critic was the BC First Nations Justice Council, which issued a statement referencing a “growing disillusioned sect” that was using “denialism” to downplay the horrors of residential schools.

Heller claimed the LSBC posted a link to the press release in an online statement knowing it was defamatory. His lawsuit alleged the LSBC refused to take down the press release and issue an apology and a retraction.

We need goodwill, the presumption of goodwill so we can have some real dialogue.

The law society denied defaming Heller as his suit moved through the courts. The case has now been settled, although the terms are confidential.

In May this year, the law society issued a clarification stating that “to the degree it was understood by some to have defamed Mr. Heller, the Law Society wishes to confirm that was not its intention.”

What is so utterly bizarre about the case is that Heller was only trying to insert the word “potential” in relation to the graves, which would have been truthful and factual. No graves and no bodies have been found at the site despite a press release in 2021 from the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc that talked of “the remains of 215 children” at Kamloops.

As Heller pointed out, even the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc has changed the way it discusses the matter, now opting for terms like “potential graves” and “anomalies” at Kamloops.

The danger for people like Heller is that they would almost certainly find themselves in the crosshairs of the law should “denialism” of residential schools get into the Criminal Code.

Last week, First Nations held a press conference to call for a ban on residential school denialism, echoing a recent failed attempt by a senator to make it illegal for anyone to engage in the “condoning, denying or downplaying” of residential schools, with a proposed maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment.

During the press conference, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee said Canada was perpetuating hate by not passing a denialism law.

He said he recently visited the Kamloops site and that First Nations did not have to prove there were bodies by exhuming them.

“They are there and they send us messages telling us they’re there,” he said. “You can tell they’re there, right? Feel the power and the energy. For somebody that’s not from our communities, that doesn’t understand our culture, you cannot understand what that means.”

Such a stance does not sit well with Heller.

“He’s saying, ‘We know this is true. The dead kids are there; they’re talking to us.’ That’s one thing for them to have that kind of outrageous belief and to make a point of doing a press conference,” said Heller, “but you combine that with, ‘And we’re going to court to make it illegal for you to even raise an eyebrow about that.’ Well that’s pretty incredible.”

Heller added that First Nations “speak in terms of potential and anomalies, but they still won’t have a discussion. That’s ridiculous. The very fact that you’re using tentative language is like an invitation to talk.

“This is the opposite of the spirit of reconciliation. It’s just crazy. We need goodwill, the presumption of goodwill so we can have some real dialogue.”

Unfortunately, constructive dialogue, discussion and discourse are sadly lacking in today’s Canada.

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