Aaron Gunn’s Residential School Views Have Become an Election Flashpoint

When Todd Caldecott read news stories about Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn’s past comments on residential schools, the Powell River resident decided to let the rest of his community know how he felt.

Caldecott made several large signs urging people to vote for the NDP and not for Gunn, posting them at a corner where several other election signs had been put up.

But by the next morning, Caldecott’s hand-painted signs had been ripped down.

“I should be allowed to put up my own sign,” Caldecott said, adding that he plans to make more signs. “I’m not a registered political party, but I’m a citizen — I have a democratic right to share my perspective.”

Gunn is a popular YouTuber who has built his career on making videos about right-wing culture war topics. He describes himself on LinkedIn as an “independent journalist and taxpayer advocate.”

But Gunn’s remarks on residential schools highlight an increasingly divisive issue in Conservative politics. As Canadians learned the truth about horrific abuses at residential schools through media accounts and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a group of alternative media figures have gained prominence with books, talks and social media posts that deny the extent of residential school abuse and question investigations of unmarked graves.

Gunn’s previous social media comments denying that the residential school system was a form of genocide were brought up last week, when Bob Chamberlin, a former Union of BC Indian Chiefs vice-president, called for the Conservatives to drop Gunn as a candidate over the comments. Several NDP politicians and the Wei Wai Kum First Nation near Campbell River also called for his removal.

Gunn received support from B.C. Conservative MLA Anna Kindy and from several elected officials from Vancouver Island who signed their names to a letter defending him, including Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl. (Conservative MLA Brennan Day later said his name was added to the list of supporters without his consent, and Kindy has apologized for sending the letter using her legislature letterhead.)

Residential school denialism has already rocked Conservative politics at the provincial level. In March, three B.C. Conservative MLAs left the party after MLA Dallas Brodie was removed from caucus over comments she made mocking the testimony of residential school survivors.

Gunn’s campaign sent the following statement in response to questions for this story but did not respond to a followup question asking for details about what misinformation has been spread:

“I am beyond thankful for the support of Pierre Poilievre and local leaders, like Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl, have shown me in recent days in the face of the misinformation and false claims being spread about my beliefs.”

In a previous response posted to X, Gunn said: “I have always been firm in recognizing the truly horrific events that transpired in residential schools, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is simply false.”

But opposition to Gunn’s candidacy has also been growing: opponents have listed other social media posts made by Gunn between 2019 and 2021, including posts that questioned why Orange Shirt Day, or the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, was being made a statutory holiday and whether it’s accurate to call the residential school system a form of genocide. Gunn also posted to dispute a CBC story about the role of Canada’s first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, in creating the residential school system. In that post, Gunn said Indigenous people asked for residential schools to be created.

Some constituents are now planning a rally against Gunn in Campbell River on Saturday, while Gunn has cancelled one public rally and has recently advertised a private, invitation-only campaign event.

The truth-telling exercise of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission detailed how residential schools abused children, destroyed family structures and attempted to erase Indigenous language and culture. The schools had high illness and death rates and offered little actual education. In its final report, the TRC said that Canada has committed “cultural genocide” against Indigenous people through the residential school system.

The riding where Gunn is seeking election — the north end of Vancouver Island and part of the Sunshine Coast — is home to numerous First Nations and one former residential school, St. Michael’s. Another former residential school, Sechelt, lies just outside the riding boundary. The history of residential schools is not far from people’s memories. Chamberlin said his mother and several other relatives attended St. Michael’s.

“In my opinion, this is just simply blatant racism,” Chamberlin told The Tyee. “I don’t know the exact number, but there are close to 21 First Nations in this riding.” Indigenous people make up about 12 per cent of the riding population.

When activists have called for statues that represent Canada’s colonial history to be removed, right-wing media figures have found a potent symbol of “cancel culture” to rally around. After the City of Victoria removed a statue of John A. Macdonald in 2018, Gunn made numerous videos defending Macdonald’s legacy as Canada’s first prime minister, who created the modern nation by championing the construction of the railway through the West to British Columbia.

In one interview, Gunn says Western Canada was a “vast, empty space — with the exception of some Indigenous Canadians” before the railway was built.

Poilievre has often called for Macdonald to be celebrated. In response to changes at the historic site Bellevue House in Kingston, Ontario, to include more Indigenous content, the Conservative party complained that “Trudeau’s Liberals are silencing and censoring the positive elements of Canada’s history to almost exclusively focus on historical wrongdoings.”

But the construction of the railway and colonial practices during Macdonald’s period also decimated First Nations people on the Prairies, historical facts detailed in the book Clearing the Plains. Historian James Daschuk lays out how the Macdonald government’s attitudes towards First Nations people led to unnecessary starvation and a reluctance to pay for things like a smallpox quarantine. The book also details how First Nations people on the Prairies were treated more harshly by Macdonald’s Conservative government than by a previous Liberal government.

“It’s a flag waving for the founder of this country,” Chamberlin said in response to Poilievre’s celebration of Macdonald.

“But when you look at it through a human rights lens, it was atrocious what happened under the leadership of John A. Macdonald. He was the implementer of the genocide for the First Nations people in this country. It’s so troubling that people want to wax romantic about this guy.”

Poilievre has also appeared in lengthy interviews on True North and its sister publication Juno News. The right-wing media site frequently publishes articles that downplay or deny residential school abuse.

The Poilievre campaign did not reply to requests for comment from The Tyee.

In Powell River, the Tla’amin Nation’s 2021 request to rename the town because of the history of Israel Wood Powell has also led to an intense pushback that has included inviting speakers who deny the extent of residential school abuse to town. Powell was B.C.’s first superintendent of Indian Affairs and an advocate for residential schools and assimilation.

Gunn’s Powell River campaign is being led by Robin Murray, a spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of Powell River, which was founded in opposition to the Tla’amin Nation’s name change request.

In a statement Monday, the Wei Wai Kum First Nation said “attempts to minimize, question, or ‘walk back’” Gunn’s comments — especially his repeated denial that genocide occurred — are just not good enough.

“Mr. Gunn’s remarks from years ago were not just careless — they seem to reflect his true beliefs and a deep misunderstanding of the challenges Indigenous communities continue to face,” said Wei Wai Kum Chief Councillor Chris Roberts in the statement.

“His past statements deny the truth of Indigenous experience and demonstrate why he is not the right person to represent this region. Residential school trauma is real. Our communities and members are still trying to cope with the multi-generational trauma. It is important for everyone to work together on reconciliation.”