Red Deer's Indian Industrial School, located three miles west of Red Deer on the bank of the Red Deer River, was operated from 1893 and 1919 by the Missionary Society of the Methodist Church. (Red Deer & District Archives/P2908)

By Josh Hall

"OUT OF STEP"

Indigenous voices in Red Deer remain concerned over controversial curriculum panel member

Sep 29, 2020 | 2:31 PM

As school divisions across Canada mark Orange Shirt Day on Wednesday, Indigenous voices continue to call for the removal of a controversial appointee to the provincial government’s social studies curriculum review panel.

Dr. Chris Champion is a former policy adviser for the ministry of national defence under Stephen Harper and former colleague of Jason Kenney’s in the Canadian Alliance Party. He was appointed to the panel along with seven others in August.

His appointment received backlash after it was reported Champion had previously written that the inclusion of First Nations’ perspectives in education is a fad, and that the blanket exercise brainwashes children.

Created in 2013, Orange Shirt Day was inspired by residential school survivor Phyllis Jack Webstad, whose orange shirt – a gift from her grandmother – was confiscated on her first day at the school when she was six.

“Urban Aboriginal Voices Society (UAVS) supports the requests and the recommendations of First Nations organizations who first responded to this situation,” says Tanya Schur, the group’s community facilitator. “In light of Orange Shirt Day, it’s important for children going to school to learn about Canadian history from an Indigenous perspective so that we can build a more inclusive and welcoming country, understand where we’ve come from, and be grateful for the residential school survivors and their courage to share their stories.”

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Lyle Keewatin Richards of Red Deer, who helped initiate the Remembering the Children Society, says the situation is particularly disappointing given the history of residential schooling in the education minister’s own constituency.

“People saying it wasn’t that bad should go tell that to the 60 kids buried in the graveyard here. We had one of the very worst residential schools in Canada’s history here in Red Deer,” says Keewatin Richards, who has an honourary doctorate in sacred letters from St. Stephen’s College at the University of Alberta.

Remembering the Children has received national praise as a model of community-based restorative justice in response to the residential school system.

“There have been so many inquiries to our minister about this person, but we’re getting ghosted and stonewalled by our minister and our government, and we’d like some explanation,” he states. “They say he’s only one of many on this committee, so his opinion won’t carry that much weight; well that’s hard to say because if he’s the darling of our premier, then it could be a problem.”

Keewatin Richards says Champion’s appointment to the panel seems out of step given the government’s commitment to truth and reconciliation.

rdnewsNOW asked the education ministry about the continued calls for Champion’s removal from the panel. Responding through a statement first shared with media last month, press secretary Colin Aitchison highlighted Champion’s role as a research fellow at Queen’s University, as well as his active role with the Canadian Armed Forces reserves.

“While he has held political positions in the past, he is an established academic and has delivered lectures at multiple Canadian universities, including McGill, Concordia and the University of Ottawa. All of our advisors are providing unbiased advice,” said Aitchison.

“We believe that any future curricula must include First Nations, Indigenous and Métis perspectives. Their views and unique education needs have been captured in the curriculum development work done to date. Dr. Champion is just one of over 300 people working on designing Alberta’s new curriculum. To suggest that he and he alone holds the pen on this endeavour is simply not true.”