More action needed on trustee’s comments

Opinion

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This article was published 01/05/2024 (529 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If Manitoba’s education system is serious about combating anti-Indigenous racism, it must take swift and meaningful action against a rural school trustee who last week used hurtful language and spread misinformation about residential schools.

Paul Coffey, a Ward 2 trustee from the Mountain View School Division board in western Manitoba, described First Nations people as “Indians” during a half-hour presentation to the board on April 22. He argued that residential schools benefited Indigenous people and that “white privilege” is a racist concept that is just as unacceptable as the term “red savage.”

Coffey said he has Assiniboine and Chippewa ancestry and that his father and grandfather attended residential school. He said they did not consider themselves survivors “because to be a survivor, that means you’re a victim.”

The school trustee also questioned the extent to which Indigenous students faced abuse at residential schools, as documented in the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.

Coffey’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. “Paul Coffey’s remarks demonstrate a deep ignorance that is counterproductive to the goals of reconciliation,” said AMC Grand Chief Cathy Merrick in a news release last week. “Continuing to provide a platform for someone with such profoundly racist beliefs is as irresponsible as it is violent, and this rhetoric has no place in any public education system.”

Mountain View’s board of trustees posted a statement on its website the day after Coffey’s presentation, denouncing his remarks. Division superintendent Stephen Jaddock also condemned Coffey’s racist comments.

“It has done much damage that has the potential to undo years of important reconciliation work and runs against all that we stand for,” he posted on the division’s website.

Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare said his office is investigating the matter and will launch a governance review. The minister said last Friday he has been in contact with the board and superintendent to discuss options.

“It is imperative that all of our schools are safe and inclusive spaces for all students,” Altomare said in a written statement.

Those are all appropriate immediate responses. But they don’t go far enough.

Coffey’s comments are not only hurtful and racist, they are inaccurate. They perpetuate lies and misinformation about residential schools, a common tactic among residential school deniers. They include false claims that the schools operated with the best of intentions and that they were designed to provide Indigenous children with an education.

Well-documented historical evidence confirms residential schools were used by governments and churches to assimilate Indigenous people into white, Christian culture. The stated objective of the schools was to eliminate Indigenous language, culture and way of living. Those deliberate government policies have led to inter-generational trauma among Indigenous people and have caused severe social and economic harm to their communities.

Contradicting those well-established facts is irresponsible and reckless. It is especially harmful coming from a school trustee whose jurisdiction includes classroom curriculum. Public schools have a crucial role to play in educating society on how Canada has treated, and continues to treat, Indigenous people. Reconciliation cannot occur without an education system that is willing to confront the country’s dark legacy.

Coffey’s public comments undermine those objectives. They are a step backwards in efforts to ensure that students, and society generally, are equipped with accurate information to participate meaningfully in the reconciliation process.

For that, Coffey should face serious consequences. Spreading hateful messaging and misinformation about Indigenous issues should not be tolerated.