Tyler O’Neil – July 06, 2021
A year after Black Lives Matter and antifa riots ravaged cities across the United States, vandals and arsonists are targeting churches in Canada. The attacks follow news of more than 1,000 children placed in unmarked graves at Indian residential schools. Canada forced Native Americans (referred to as “First Nations” in Canada) to attend the boarding schools in an act that activists decry as a form of cultural genocide.
On June 21, arsonists targeted two Roman Catholic churches in tribal territory in British Columbia (B.C.): Sacred Heart Mission Church of Penticton, and St. Gregory Mission Church on Osoyoos land. On June 26, arsonists burned two more Catholic churches in B.C. to the ground. Authorities also found that St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Gitwangak First Nations land in B.C. had been set on fire on June 26, but firefighters extinguished the blaze, mostly saving the church, Catholic News Agency reported. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said all the fires were “suspicious” and local leaders attributed them to arson.
On June 27, arsonists lit a fire at Siksika First Nation Catholic Church, but firefighters put out the blaze before it caused severe damage. On June 30, arsonists burned St. Jean Baptiste Catholic Church in Morinville to the ground. On the night of July 1, two fires destroyed one Anglican church — the aforementioned St. Paul’s Anglican Church — and damaged part of another church in Tofino.
Vandals have not just attacked churches. They also toppled and decapitated the statue of Egerton Ryerson, one of the designers of the residential school system. Publications at Ryerson University have moved to strike the figure’s name from their publications. Protesters covered the statue of John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister and another originator of the residential school system, with black fabric.