Okanagan MLA calls school board’s support for Indigenous sovereignty ‘propaganda’
After taking heat from her former party, the Penticton Indian Band, some of her own constituents, and the Central Okanagan School Board, Independent Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA Tara Armstrong continues her fight against Indigenous rights.
Last week the Central Okanagan School Board released a statement affirming its support for Indigenous students and First Nations’ sovereignty in response to Armstrong’s rhetoric, and she released a statement in response.
“I urge parents who value truth and are dedicated to shielding children from ideological propaganda to step forward and run in the upcoming school board elections in the Central Okanagan and across British Columbia. By eliminating (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) and other political topics from classrooms, attention can be redirected to essential academic subjects like math, science, art, sport, and literature,” Armstrong said in the statement.
Armstrong has been vocal about criticizing Indigenous sovereignty and supporting an online petition to repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or DRIPA.
“Considering statements made by MLA Tara Armstrong, Kelowna–Lake Country–Coldstream, we affirm our support of these established rights,” the board’s statement read.
“We know that championing the human rights of everyone, particularly those who face discrimination, does not diminish the rights of anyone else. We hope that everyone will come to understand that together we learn.”
Armstrong left the BC Conservatives in solidarity with MLA Dallas Brodie, who was ousted from the BC Conservatives for mocking residential school survivors, and since then the pair have been speaking out against Indigenous rights.
In her response to the school board Armstrong said the board’s chair Julia Fraser ought to delete a post on social media about mourning the loss of the children who were found in more than 200 suspected unmarked graves at the Kamloops residential school.
Armstrong and Brodie deny that there are children in the graves in Kamloops even though atrocities at residential schools are well documented and survivors of abuse have told their stories.
“The claim there were ‘215 aboriginal children found in a mass grave’ in Kamloops has been proven false, yet it remains visible on the social media account of Julia Fraser, Chair of the Central Okanagan School Board. She should immediately remove the post and apologize to the public for spreading such disturbing disinformation. A public official should not be promoting falsehoods,” Armstrong said.
There is an online petition to recall Armstrong, but it won’t have any effect since recall petition signatures must be collected in person and the petition can’t be started until 18 months after the election. Once the petition is initiated, 40 per cent of electors have to sign the petition within 90 days.
