Orange Shirt Day founder says her truth is being 'pushed aside' by controversial shirts
Orange shirts with slogans like 'Dig deeper' and 'Still no proof' being sold online
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shirts → say → slogans
The founder of Orange Shirt Day says she was sick to her stomach when she learned orange shirts with slogans like "Dig deeper" and "Still no proof" were being sold online.
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shirts → say → slogans
Holding back tears and speaking from Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc in B.C., which announced a discovery of potential unmarked graves near a former residential school site in 2021, Phyllis Webstad said her campaign was being used in a "hateful way."
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campaign → hold → way
"I've been trying to understand why they believe that it's OK to hurt people," she said.
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she → try → people
In 1976, Webstad wore a present from her grandmother, an orange shirt, on her first day at a residential school at St. Joseph's Mission, in Williams Lake, B.C.
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Webstad → wear → Lake
The shirt was taken from her by school officials and never returned.
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shirt → take → officials
Webstad founded Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30, 13 years ago, to honour Indigenous children who were forced to attend residential schools.
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who → found → schools
In late August, Rebel News announced it was selling orange T-shirts on its website for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and that the shirts are about "challenging the identity politics that Canadians are increasingly pressured to accept and standing up for the whole truth in our complex Canadian history."
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shirts → announce → history
Statements printed on the shirts include "Still no proof," "You can't handle the truth," "Buried Truth" and "Dig Deeper," as well as "Canada was built not stolen."
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Canada → print → truth
Webstad called the sales a direct attack on her work with the Orange Shirt Society.
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Webstad → call → Society
"It's my truth and what I know is the truth," Webstad said.
"
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Webstad → know → ?
It seems like this truth is not being respected.
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truth → seem → ?
It's not being understood.
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It → understand → ?
It's being pushed aside."
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It → push → ?
In an emailed statement, Ezra Levant, founder and owner of Rebel News, pointed CBC News to a video on its website launching the sale of the shirts, saying their reporter "approaches these issues with compassion."
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reporter → email → compassion
"The stated purpose of the National Truth and Reconciliation Day is noble – to honour residential school survivors and their communities by recognizing the lasting impacts of Canada's residential school system, so Canadians can better understand its legacy as part of our ongoing journey toward truth, healing, and reconciliation," Levant quoted what was said in the video.
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what → state → video
In the video, the Rebel News reporter goes on to say "But five years later, Canadians are still being told that there are some truths they're not allowed to question."
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they → go → video
Levant added in the statement that Rebel News staff are "dedicated to freedom of expression including the right to seek the truth" and "these orange shirts are a response for people who are forced to wear orange shirts at school or at work, as part of an 'official' political narrative."
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who → add → narrative
"No Canadians should be compelled to support any political view, including Orange Shirt Day’s politics."
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Canadians → compel → politics
In the video promoting the shirts, the Rebel News reporter says "what's more than likely underneath the apple orchard soil at the Kamloops site is probably an old septic plot."
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's → promote → site
Webstad pointed to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which has so far documented more than 4,000 deaths of Indigenous children in Canada's residential school system.
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which → point → system
She said her own auntie, Agness Jack, shared a personal story about what it was like living in the Kamloops Indian Residential School in a book published in 2001, Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
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it → say → School
Webstad also said her grandmother and her grandmother's 10 children including Webstad's mom were all forced to attend residential school.
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grandmother → say → school
"My mother was so traumatized that she could not take care of me; thank God my Granny was there, thank God my auntie was there," said Webstad.
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Webstad → traumatize → God
"I want to say that we aren't liars.
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we → want → ?
Have some respect and give us the space and time to do what we need to do as individuals, as family, as a community, as a nation."
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we → have → nation
The orange shirts available on the Rebel News website are listed in youth sizes as well as adult.
"
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shirts → list → adult
Where are their minds?" said Webstad about the youth sizes.
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Webstad → say → sizes
MPs and ministers condemn shirts
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MPs → condemn → shirts
Last week, the Liberal Indigenous Caucus published a statement that said merchandise "that mocks survivors' experiences and dismisses their truths is reprehensible and beneath any organization."
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that → publish → organization
A request for comment from Conservative MP Billy Morin, the party's shadow minister of Indigenous Services, was not returned by time of publishing.
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request → return → publishing
Morin told APTN News last week, “I find it racist and I find it absolutely disgusting that they’re attempting to make a profit off the pain and suffering of residential schools."
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, who is a member of the Waswanipi Cree Nation in northern Quebec, said people across the country have raised concerns about the shirts to her.
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people → tell → her
"Not just people living in my riding but also from Canadians who are appalled about this really disgraceful and grotesque attempt to exploit human suffering for financial gain," said Gull-Masty.
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Masty → live → gain
Gull-Masty's mother and grandmother were both forced to attend the La Tuque Indian Residential School in Quebec.
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mother → force → Quebec
Gull-Masty said she expressed her concerns to Justice Minister Sean Fraser, but didn't say what avenues the government would explore.
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government → say → avenues
She said she felt Fraser understood how serious the matter is.
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matter → say → ?
"I think this is one of the areas where we are seeing behaviour that is not only being perpetuated more commonly but it is reaching a level that is unacceptable," said Gull-Masty.
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Masty → think → level
In a statement to CBC Indigenous, a spokesperson for Fraser said, "Seeking to profit from Indian residential school denialism is deeply disgraceful and represents a cruel and grotesque attempt to exploit human suffering."
"Residential school denialism is a serious and distinct issue, and our government has said this issue warrants dedicated further parliamentary study," the statement said.
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statement → say → study
"Any legal response should be developed carefully in consultation and co-operation with Indigenous Peoples and the communities most affected."
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response → develop → Peoples
Earlier this year, Canada's Senate voted down an amendment to Bill C-9 that would have criminalized residential school denialism, by making it illegal to wilfully promote "hatred against Indigenous Peoples by condoning, denying or downplaying the Indian Residential Schools System."
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it → vote → System
…and 15 more, not listed.
