Thank you for this. The anglophone press in Canada became unhinged during the Pandemic. I’m very sorry to have read it during the period that I could not go to my home in Québec.
Previously, I only read the Francophone papers, which are (in my experience) less credulous, hysterical, and conformist. Unfortunately, the mass graves story is now a part of popular literature. I read a beach-read murder mystery in Biarritz last year where the murderer was an autochtone traumatized as a child by witnessing the mass burials.
That the leadership class bought this and acted upon it with no investigation is just another in a series of pathetic failures. The efforts to censor the handful of journalists who did their jobs is shameful. Criminalizing the truth is frightening.
I admire Persuasion for publishing such a straightforward and honest account.
Thanks for the forthright presentation of this unfortunate episode in Canadian journalism. You could have also noted some additional voices who cogently expressed reasonable doubts, such as Jon Kay at Quillette, and Frances Widdowson, who lost her academic post over this issue.
Thank you for this piece. The "mass grave" controversy detracts from the significant issues facing First Nations - foster care, incarceration rates, poverty, clean drinking water and access to health care on reserves, and many others. TRC has so far been not much more than a symbolic gesture
Quote; "An Angus Reid poll in 2025 found that 63 percent of Canadians—and 56 percent of Indigenous Canadians—believe more evidence is required to accept the graves claim." Canadians are so very sick of the continuing charade of this whole mournful affair. Why will the Federal Government not act to clear up this controversy? We all know the answer to that question and why there is just no political will to do this, so that once and for all the "mystery of the graves" can be proven or disproved? There will never be any Federal Government action to settle this accusation by the Indigenous. What needs to happen is the Federal Government needs to threaten to pass a Law that states these graves must be excavated and those who oppose this are in violation of this Law and will bear the consequences? Yet again, the tail- 6% of the Canadian populace - wags the dog - the other 94% of the Canadian populace. However not just the editors , but the politicians, and the judiciary would not allow the truth to surface in this matter. As this article intimates too many heads would have to roll. So this will never happen.
Great piece. My only quibble is with equating skepticism of unsubstantiated claims with objectivity. We don't need to prize or even believe in the latter to embrace the former
The critiques of objectivity as a standard are , while sometimes shallow and overblown, also legitimate. Who can really claim to be objective? So to recommend that "return" to an earlier era of objectivity if we want to head off fevers like this one is unrealistic.
How about instead using a standard of _*humility*_, or in scientific terms, an ethic of _*fallibilism*_.
Anyone can be wrong, even people with good intentions who are on the right side of history. And anyone who claims they are above such scrutiny is the person we should be most suspicious of.
I don't deny any of the horrors perpetrated on marginalized groups. But I don't see how a logical next step, once we accept the truth of these horrors, is that those who advocate against them are infallible.
Thank you for this. The anglophone press in Canada became unhinged during the Pandemic. I’m very sorry to have read it during the period that I could not go to my home in Québec.
Previously, I only read the Francophone papers, which are (in my experience) less credulous, hysterical, and conformist. Unfortunately, the mass graves story is now a part of popular literature. I read a beach-read murder mystery in Biarritz last year where the murderer was an autochtone traumatized as a child by witnessing the mass burials.
That the leadership class bought this and acted upon it with no investigation is just another in a series of pathetic failures. The efforts to censor the handful of journalists who did their jobs is shameful. Criminalizing the truth is frightening.
I admire Persuasion for publishing such a straightforward and honest account.
Thanks for the forthright presentation of this unfortunate episode in Canadian journalism. You could have also noted some additional voices who cogently expressed reasonable doubts, such as Jon Kay at Quillette, and Frances Widdowson, who lost her academic post over this issue.
Thank you for this piece. The "mass grave" controversy detracts from the significant issues facing First Nations - foster care, incarceration rates, poverty, clean drinking water and access to health care on reserves, and many others. TRC has so far been not much more than a symbolic gesture
Quote; "An Angus Reid poll in 2025 found that 63 percent of Canadians—and 56 percent of Indigenous Canadians—believe more evidence is required to accept the graves claim." Canadians are so very sick of the continuing charade of this whole mournful affair. Why will the Federal Government not act to clear up this controversy? We all know the answer to that question and why there is just no political will to do this, so that once and for all the "mystery of the graves" can be proven or disproved? There will never be any Federal Government action to settle this accusation by the Indigenous. What needs to happen is the Federal Government needs to threaten to pass a Law that states these graves must be excavated and those who oppose this are in violation of this Law and will bear the consequences? Yet again, the tail- 6% of the Canadian populace - wags the dog - the other 94% of the Canadian populace. However not just the editors , but the politicians, and the judiciary would not allow the truth to surface in this matter. As this article intimates too many heads would have to roll. So this will never happen.
Ay Ay- seems people got too angered by the made- up claims!
And emotions guilt and$$ were spent.
Glad it is coming out now thnx to her work plus others.
Now: could you also dig up how y'all got involved in US fantasies in the ME with wars- based entirely on falsehood?
Falsehood y'all get excited coming from the south is so numerous so pervasive that these almost lost you your nationhood...
Who is to bell the cat?
Great piece. My only quibble is with equating skepticism of unsubstantiated claims with objectivity. We don't need to prize or even believe in the latter to embrace the former
The critiques of objectivity as a standard are , while sometimes shallow and overblown, also legitimate. Who can really claim to be objective? So to recommend that "return" to an earlier era of objectivity if we want to head off fevers like this one is unrealistic.
How about instead using a standard of _*humility*_, or in scientific terms, an ethic of _*fallibilism*_.
Anyone can be wrong, even people with good intentions who are on the right side of history. And anyone who claims they are above such scrutiny is the person we should be most suspicious of.
I don't deny any of the horrors perpetrated on marginalized groups. But I don't see how a logical next step, once we accept the truth of these horrors, is that those who advocate against them are infallible.