Confronting residential school denialism: How a new generation is pushing back against a growing threat

APTN News InFocus

This week on APTN News InFocus, host Cierra Bettens examines the growing threat of residential school denialism in Canada.

Once confined to the internet's fringes, denialism has entered the mainstream with public speeches, book deals and online followings that continue to grow. Some deny the racist and genocidal legacy of residential schools, others call unmarked grave findings a hoax.

Survivors like Jennifer Wood say denialism is nothing new, it's something they've lived with for decades.

But a new generation is pushing back.

Benjamin Kucher, a Métis archaeology graduate student at the University of Alberta, is one of the them speaking out. Alongside Métis activist Tracie Leost, he's calling on Ottawa to treat residential school denialism as hate speech and take concrete steps to stop its spread.

Kucher joins us to talk about their calls to action and why confronting denialism is critical to reconciliation.

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