Denialist protests clash with nationwide Orange Shirt Day celebrations in Canada

The sixth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation saw record participation, with Canadians donning orange shirts, attending CFL games, and joining virtual lessons coordinated by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation that reached students from grades 1 to 12. A “Remembering the Children” ceremony was held on Parliament Hill, and Prime Minister-level officials attended events in Edmonton, reaffirming partnerships with Indigenous peoples.

Concurrently, the white-nationalist Second Sons group staged a masked protest near the Kamloops Indian Residential School, unfurling a banner that suggested no evidence of student deaths, a claim that distracts from the confirmed 4,000-plus deaths nationwide. Campus activists in Victoria and Calgary also hosted denialist debates that were later monetized online, while a brewery co-owner in Sooke was dismissed after wearing a “Show Me the Evidence” shirt. Political reactions varied: Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre remained silent, whereas other leaders condemned the Kamloops stunt, and the Liberal government has yet to act on proposals to criminalize residential-school denialism.