Ep. 17 Breaking Down Canada's Mass Graves Story: Real or Fake?
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- čas přidán 11. 06. 2024
- This is a message to our readers regarding the criticisms we received after last episode. But first some context.
Almost exactly one year after the murder of George Floyd, Canada had its own reckoning. But this time, there was no video or autopsy that sparked the unrest. There was a claim, and that claim may have turned out to be baseless.
On May 27, 2021, the Kamloops Indian Band in British Columbia reported that they used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology to discover the unmarked graves of 215 indigenous children at a former residential school. The discovery sent shockwaves across Canada and then the world.
Within 24 hours, the largest media outlets had jumped on the story. The Washington Post wrote, “Remains of 215 Indigenous children discovered at former Canadian residential school site.” The Guardian’s headline was virtually identical. The AP made it sound as though the bodies may still be warm: “More than 200 bodies found at Indigenous school in Canada.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau barely inhaled before mourning the news on Twitter and ordering the Canadian flag be flown half-mast - not just for that day, but until the Assembly of First Nations gave him permission to raise them again. That didn’t happen until November - five-and-a-half months later - marking the longest period of half-mast flag flying in the country’s history.
Trudeau pledged to “bring these terrible wrongs to light” and the money started pouring out of Ottawa: After the Kamloops claim, numerous other tribes announced their own unmarked grave discoveries. In total, the Canadian government pledged $320M to support the searches.
At the end of 2021, the Canadian Press crowned the Kamloops discovery its “news story of the year.” The below photo, meanwhile, earned the prestigious World Press Photo of the Year award.
The AP describes the photo: “A haunting image of red dresses hung on crosses along a roadside, with a rainbow in the background, commemorating children who died at a residential school created to assimilate Indigenous children in Canada won the prestigious World Press Photo award Thursday.”
Meanwhile, Canadians channeled their fury over the mass grave discoveries at Catholic and Christian churches, because many of the residential schools were Christian schools. The Kamloops Indian residential school operated under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Church until its closure in 1978.
Canada established these schools to assimilate indigenous students. Today, critics allege they constituted a “cultural genocide” against indigenous peoples by forcing them into white colonial culture at the expense of their language and culture. They also point to many harrowing allegations of sexual and physical abuse perpetrated against children by the schools’ authorities.
But the schools aren’t without their defenders, who generally say they were needed to integrate indigenous people into Canadian society; that parents generally sent their kids away to get an education or because they couldn’t take care of them; or that kids had to go because they lived in sparsely populated places with no day schools.
This had been a controversial historical topic in Canada for decades. The Kamloops allegations brought it to the forefront.
On June 30, 2021 - weeks after the initial Kamloops allegations - the executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association tweeted, "Burn it all down." Protesters heeded these words, and - as the media and government remained silent - set dozens of churches on fire. At least 33 were burned to the ground, according to the CBC.
So three years later, what has been found at Kamloops?
Nothing - not a body, not a bone.
When we heard about this story, we reached out to a Kamloops spokesperson, indigenous leaders, and members of the media who reported on the mass graves. None responded.
We only received a reply from Dr. Thomas Flanagan, an esteemed retired professor who authored a book - Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us -about the Kamloops allegations and their aftermath. He is the guest on our latest podcast.
You can watch the full episode here: • Ep. 16 Canada's "Mass ...
Let us know what you think of this episode. Our email is wethe66@rocanews.com.
Instagram: / wethe66podcast
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This was good. I’m from Canada… 1 hr from the alleged grave site … this kind of reporting is absolutely necessary
Please don’t change. I honestly didn’t necessarily like the guest you had on about the mass “graves” however I appreciate hearing both sides of an issues and coming to my own conclusions. Thanks for believing in me, that I am smart and can think critically. I feel algorithms and mainstream media have done the population a disservice
appreciate this feedback! we promise to stick to our mission, giving a platform two both sides of an issue and figures the media ignores
Do not be intimidated or stop. You guys are doing essential work.
🤝🌊
If it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen. The hysteria seems more like an excuse for violence, not righteous indignation. That the media would stoke the fire is inexcusable.
I thought people came to Roca specifically because you challenge mainstream narratives. However, as a Roca app user and podcast listener, I have found that it seems that even some (most?) Roca users still want mainstream viewpoints represented, but in a cutesy, fun app form. I DON’T want that, and I appreciate your counter-narrative approach. On another note, Instagram is a cesspit, and it’s full of emotional, knee-jerk users (even Roca Instagram users).
Thank you so much - we won’t change 🤝 and totally agree with your point about IG. Elevates the negative stuff and also amplifies trolls in comments
I can't usually pay attention to podcasts but this one always interests me. Keep up the good work
Thanks Noah 🤝🤝
Just started following your channel and I find it absolutely refreshing. Why people trust the mainstream media is beyond me.
Thank you for checking us out. Just getting started. The media has a narrative monopoly - need to dismantle it
Hi just stumbled across your channel and what a breath of fresh air to see people reporting on FACTS rather than following the masses and reporting without fact checking and investigating! Just subscribed greetings from the UK 🇬🇧🙏✌️❤️
Absolutely love this - thank you so much 🙏🙏
Love what you guys do
Thank you so much for listening 🙏
Yall are cooking
No. Ive been a Roca follower since the start. But your”facts” aka the perspective you have been fed on this, is wrong. The entire purpose of the ground penetrating technology used is that it is highly definitive in distinguishing remains without disturbing the remains which is necessary for the beliefs of the indigenous people. The images were then verified by forensic archaeologists. If you don’t even know what the term “unceded territory” means, you need to see and learn before thinking that you can speak to this topic with an educated perspective. Is Canada immediately experiencing genocide? No. This is a topic of MASSIVE historical significance that was, quite literally buried for decades. It does NOT just come down to “dig up all the remains and prove it” 🙄 Grow up.
I feel like people have an emotional definition of what is a genocide here, it is a highly technical term that was defined by the UN in the 40s after the shoah and it does cover legislative attempts at the existence of a distinct people group, we have the image of genocides like in Africa that are more like genocidal civil wars rather than "only" a genocide.
Thank you for sharing this side. This is what’s missing in this conversation and where Roca is failing to be unbiased. By not honestly presenting the other side of this discussion alongside this presenter is showing bias. @Roca if you tell your viewers you are unbiased and commit to presenting “facts” while platforming people who espouse incorrect facts without fact-checking, challenging, or presenting the other side - then your viewers will trust that what that person said is facts.
I appreciate trusting your audience to think for themselves, but it’s irresponsible especially on a topic such as this to present this one opinion, and expect your audience to decide to research the other opinion on their own. At that point, how are you truly different from MSNBC or Fox News?
I’d also like to say that I am a Roca fan and subscribe and follow. But this particular topic is giving me pause on whether you’re sometimes missing the forest for the trees and failing to recognize your bias. In your effort to discredit mainstream media, you’re not doing your own due diligence in researching and presenting all sides of this topic, which is exactly what the mainstream media does.
The only way we can pursue being unbiased is by recognizing what our biases are and then challenging them. I hope that Roca can continue to pursue this value and present good faith arguments for multiple perspectives of these issues.
"outrage culture; they didn't listen" -- complete bullshit. The presenter in your podcast said that residential schools were mostly "voluntary" and that reports about them in the media were "overblown". He's an apologist for Canada's racist past, and you did not challenge him on these lies. OWN up to it.
The purpose of the podcast was not to explore the history of residential schools. It was specifically to address the mass grave story. We also let our guests talk - at the expense of them sharing uncommon or even incorrect opinions - because our audience can think for themselves. I’m sorry you didn’t like this episode
Omfg you can’t be serious
Although I respect what you're trying to do, the difference between just giving someone a platform vs journalism IS in asking probing, difficult questions that challenge the person you're interviewing and challenge your audience. Anyone can let someone talk, but great journalists draw things out that are hidden between the lines by asking good questions. You guys could definitely be better about that.
@@marissahofland8653 we definitely have room for improvement and appreciate the feedback. We are trying to do something different here which is less of the "gotcha" style certain journalists have and the shameless pushing of agenda. That's why we've had on a polyamorous bestselling author, Mehdi Hasan, Steven Pinker, and other interviewees who could not be more different.
@@WeThe66 I appreciate you taking the time to respond. There is a difference between being a "gotcha" news source and calling out your guests' blatant and unprompted lies. Good journalists should seek to expose the truth, not seek to let all kinds of narratives run rampant and unchallenged on their channel. What your guest said was blatantly false and whitewashing of history. Someone else said it better -- would an unbiased view be interviewing a Holocaust survivor and then interviewing Hitler as a counter-poiny?