iN DISCUSSION: The media’s double standard on the Kamloops residential school graves

This is where cold hard facts give way to the hottest of takes, mostly mine I suppose. I’m the editor, Marshall Jones.

Want to include yours? Listen, this isn’t the comment section, this isn’t social media. Discussion and debate requires context and a wee bit of bravery — we need your name and where you’re writing from. Include it in your account or email me anytime.

---

So the Globe and Mail calls coverage of Indigenous children buried under the Kamloops Indian Residential School “a failure of journalism.”

Well, speak for yourselves. We’ve watched you mess this up from the beginning.

Tk’emlups te Secwepemc has never been unclear about what they found at the old school. They knew kids were missing, they knew kids were likely buried there. That’s why they paid for ground-penetrating radar to see what it would find.

Well, their suspicions were confirmed. It found 215 disturbances. It’s fair to say the band suspects they are graves. No one knows for sure or how many, and the band was clear from the beginning about the state of its investigation and its knowledge and what it would do next, which never included shovels.

The band has since learned what the Globe and many other news outlets experience every day — you can put information into the world, you can’t control how people interpret it. Memorials, T-shirts, movements, churches burning down, heretics silenced by mobs.

It suited the Globe at the time, and the New York Times and others, to offer the broadest of interpretations. They got readers for it. Once they established their narrative, as tends to happen at national news outlets, they couldn’t escape it.

They overstated the claims: 215 children buried. Some notable folks tried to accurately clarify and were silenced and sidelined as racists.

The clarification wasn’t exactly required. ‘Suspected’ has always been the correct term but for the record, I still think it’s defendable to drop it. We can operate under the assumption there are some number of children buried there. Focusing on the number is macabre, insipid and stupid.

My how things have changed five years later. Some factions of the BC Conservatives have pushed overt Indigenous racism back on the agenda. The absolute paralysis on the left and the NDP specifically to articulate any position on Indigenous issues like the Cowichan decision, (let alone a cohesive one) doesn’t get us anywhere either.

I suspect the Globe and others smell that Kerry-Lynne Findlay smell wafting in through the Overton Window and are rising to meet it by correcting their reporting and their history.

Now they won’t be happy until they see the bodies, a ridiculous double standard for coverage of a historical tragedy if I’ve ever seen one. Go dig up Frank, you ghouls. The First Nations that sent their children to that school owe neither me nor you anything.

That’s how it looks from where I sit. How about you? Email me at mjones@infonews.ca.

Mj

Marshall Jones

Managing Editor

I don’t get it.

When social media disrupts our lives, communities, and industries, there’s barely a hint of regulation. AI threatens to disrupt jobs and livelihoods and we just have to accept it.

But when electric bikes threaten to disrupt transportation, we send in the police to stop it and regulation is coming up fast behind it.

We’ve been watching this build for a couple years as they have grown in popularity. More and more kids are riding them. Neighbourhood forums are lit up with stories of kids doing wheelies or riding in the middle of the road or in large groups.

I was worried there would be an overreaction. Sure enough, the RCMP have charged some kids with stunting and, oh yeah — seized their vehicles under legislation designed for organized crime.

Way to keep things in perspective.

Look, I share everyone’s concerns. Some sub-four-foot-kid on an e-dirt bike nearly shot in front of me in neighbourhood traffic the other day.

But I live on a mountain and I can tell you the streets of this neighbourhood were ghostly empty for years. No one goes for casual bike rides around here unless they want to carry their bikes home.

Well here they are and I find it great to see them. They’re outside. They’re doing wheelies? Stunting? That’s awesome. That’s how they get good at this, perfect it, learn skills. I still have scars from my lessons, why has everyone my age seem to have forgotten theirs?

They’re in the roads? My goodness, where else would they be? If you weren’t aware, mopeds, bikes and cars manage to avoid catastrophe in large cities across the world. It might have to include vehicles slowing down, sharing the road.

I’m aware of the kids in my hood. I drive slower.

I’m not arguing against enforcement. The RCMP is trying to also take a more measured and positive approach and I appreciate that. Parents need some education as well. Surrons and e-dirt bikes aren’t for kids on city streets, give your head a shake. We are trying to find data to find out if these are as dangerous as we all make them out to be.

It’d be nice if we could figure this out ourselves somehow before BC comes along to do its favourite thing — over-regulate.

It’s going to be a sad day when we all have to pay to register our bicycles, get licences and insurance just so we can get some milk from the store.

I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle on this one — my favourite position to take. I’d love to hear your comments, email me at mjones@infonews.ca.

Mj

Marshall Jones

Managing Editor

---

My first newspaper job was in the small town of Sparwood, BC, in the last days of Mayor Toto Miller.

Toto was an interesting fellow who learned from history, mostly that votes could be bought with drinks at the public houses the night before the election.

Sparwood is tight to the Alberta border and Miller became famous for his attempts in the 1980s and 90s for trying to secede from British Columbia and join Alberta.

Quebec, of course, was on course for its separation referendum so secession was all the rage.

Toto knew it would never happen, didn’t care if it ever did. He wanted to raise a stink about local issues, found a beat that carried his complaints no one remembers — and his name, of course — in all the newspapers for years and he played it like a cheap drum.

Were he alive today, I think he’d immediately recognize his own strategy in Alberta’s secession talks. Except for Alberta, it’s working, so far. As BC Premier David Eby noted, Alberta is being rewarded for its bad behaviour.

I’m from Alberta. I’d bet a doughnut the vast majority of support for becoming a landlocked entity without any power is coming from the rural areas.

So if the province decides to secede, surely Calgary and Edmonton and First Nations can decide their own future. They could secede Albertastan to remain in Canada, maybe even BC.

Then again, if it could be carved that finely, maybe some neighbourhoods within Calgary and Edmonton could leave while others remain.

And if this is starting to sound silly, that’s the point. It was silly when Toto Miller first proposed it, it was silly to even allow Quebec to have a treasonous vote and what’s happening in Alberta is more laughable still.

What kind of country has a roadmap for secession? Not a serious one.

Thoughts? Email me at mjones@infonews.ca

Mj

Marshall Jones

Managing Editor

---

iN RESPONSE

iN RESPONSE to Friday’s newsletter opinion-editorial regarding the Kamloops Indian Residential School graves

It seems to me that the important thing here hinges on the time frames with respect to the possible graves and the grave/cemetery sites as well as if anyone is suspecting or claiming any crimes have been committed in which case the authorities should have been involved and investigated from the get go. Today when a child goes missing for even a few hours we immediately call the police. Has this been done in the past, was it even possible, and is it being done now? If not, why not?
And yes, the media screwed up big time on this one. Anyone familiar with the book “The Lost City of the Monkey Gods” would have known the limitations of lidar technology.

— Warren Caruk via email

The author Marshall Jones argues that the media’s reporting on the Kamloops Residential School site was largely accurate and that critics are demanding an unreasonable standard of proof. However, this view overlooks a fundamental principle of journalism such as reporting allegations, suspicions, and evidence as facts can have significant consequences.

The issue is not whether children died at residential schools. Historical records clearly demonstrate that many Indigenous children suffered, died, and were often buried far from home. Nor is the issue whether Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc had legitimate reasons to investigate the former residential school grounds. They did, and they were transparent that ground-penetrating radar identified 215 anomalies or soil disturbances requiring further investigation.

The problem arose when many media organizations, politicians, activists, and public institutions transformed “potential graves” into “215 children found buried.” Headlines around the world presented an unverified conclusion as established fact. Those who questioned the accuracy of the reporting were often dismissed as racists, deniers, or conspiracy theorists rather than engaged in a factual discussion.

The Globe and Mail’s recent reflection is not an attack on Indigenous communities. It is an acknowledgment that journalism failed to maintain the distinction between evidence and certainty. Good journalism requires precision, especially on emotionally charged subjects. If reporters would not report a criminal conviction without a trial, they should not report the discovery of graves without confirming evidence.

The writer suggests that demanding proof is a “double standard.” In reality, verification is journalism’s standard. It is the same standard applied to every serious claim. The public can acknowledge the tragedy of residential schools while also insisting that extraordinary claims be supported by verifiable evidence.

The consequences of inaccurate reporting were enormous. Public monuments were altered, churches were vandalized or burned, reputations were damaged, and public discourse became polarized. Those outcomes make accuracy more important, not less.

Compassion and truth are not competing values. Respect for Indigenous history and suffering should strengthen our commitment to factual reporting, not weaken it. The public deserves empathy, transparency, and evidence. Journalism’s role is not to advance a preferred narrative but to pursue the truth wherever the facts lead.

This version focuses on media accountability and evidentiary standards rather than challenging the broader history of residential schools, making it stronger and more difficult to dismiss as partisan.

— Garry Davies, Kamloops, via email
Kamloops resident

iN RESPONSE to Wednesday’s newsletter opinion-editorial on e-dirt bikes

We are going to disagree on this one. Kids are out there on e-bikes for three reasons. One, it’s a new shiny toy, for now. E-bikes are exciting and powerful. Two, they are temporarily distracted from social media on their phones, where they were spending their time. Three, lazy. Back in the day kids were out playing in droves because they didn’t have phones or shiny new distractions like an e-bikes. There was nothing stopping them from being out, just internet and power bikes. Before that we were all out playing kick the can or whatever. Jeesh, we just baby our kids now. We are raising a bunch of lazy non-thinkers. It’s pretty sad. Thats my opinion!

— Helen Price via email

I live in a hilly hood in Kamloops and the only way kids are getting around to play at the park or visit a friend is riding an electric bike/scooter (which technically most aren’t permitted to do under current regs) OR their parents are driving them in a 2-tonne vehicle designed for highway speeds. Take the cars out of the picture and it would largely be a safe activity provided the kids are equipped with the skill, knowledge and abilities – and good judgement – to safely operate the device. A tall order for sure…but once they’re 16 years old, they’ll likely be in a 2-tonne vehicle driving in our hoods…so, allowing kids to ride a 1 horse-power bike or scooter seems like a reasonable stepping stone towards their independent urban transportation.

As many say, it’s not really the devices that are the problem…it’s that our urban transportation networks have been designed solely for the almighty motor vehicle. Thank goodness we had the foresight to at least provide narrow concrete paths (sidewalks) for people…and perhaps we need to re-think how we allow multiple user types to use them responsibly and where they are not already heavily used by pedestrians. As a start, I’ve heard people advocate to allow children 13 yrs & under to ride bikes/scooters on sidewalks. Otherwise, in most parts of our cities, there’s little-to-inadequate space available for people on wheels.

— Glen Cheetham via email

It’s not about what they do but more about breaking the rules on what is allowed or considered an e-bike. You want a bike that you don’t have to pedal at all or that has more power and speed, then get a license for a motorbike, pay the insurance like everyone else. The doctors say injuries are up because of these bikes as well as scooters. Something has to be done or tried if the parents are not going to police it. Everyone pays. The AI digital problem is far more complex and global. Things are being considered and warned about as far as I know. Will it work. Probably not.

— Warren Caruk via email

B.C. murder suspect says ex-wife was stabbed with his knife, but not by him

This testimony from Vitali Stefanski sounds like something a 5-year-old dreamed up. It is entirely incapable of belief.

— William Mastop via iNFOnews.ca

iN RESPONSE to Monday’s newsletter opinion-editorial on Alberta separation

I agree that it’s entirely silly, both Quebec and Alberta. Also the fact that this is considered seriously in Canada, literally my home and native land.
I love my country it seems, more than most and it’s sad there’s so much hatred (blame?) in the world. The left seems to think that everyone is capable and worth bending over backwards for even if it hurts, and the right is full of hate and they want them all to die an impoverished death. I’ve always been able to see both sides of any argument and that’s been poor as well lately, because we’re all so far apart.
I think we may need a common enemy. And Donald Trump is not what I mean. I’ve voted both ways in the past and will in the future.
I just wish we could come together somehow. The ground swell from ‘the rest of Canada’ during the Quebec thing is what I want to see, for the future of this country.
Just my 2 cents worth bud. Keep doing what you do, it’s appreciated.

— Mike Cole via email

People have a right to feel the way they feel and have every right to say it. Every Albertan should get a say about separating or staying in this sad country. And yet some think that shouldn’t happen and that’s a sad thing.

— Beverly Ford via email

I agree with your comments about how silly this whole mess has become, Ms. Smith is one of the most inept Premiers in Canada. For years Alberta preferred King, Aberhart, Manning, then Lougheed ruled with one or two members in the opposition. Then the following Premiers gave away the “Heritage Fund” amongst other nefarious deeds, the voters tried NDP, that Premier couldn’t fart without the media reporting it, so out with the Socialists. Now 2026 with this Premier touting separation in a time so volatile with the idiots south of the border, it is no joke. I am a CANADIAN first and lucky enough to live in British Columbia.

— George Miller via email

Poilievre says Alberta needs new priorities from Ottawa, not a new country

What Canada and Alberta needs is a new opposition leader.

— Bonnie Derry via iNFOnews.ca

BC man who claimed ‘sexsomnia’ ordered to pay victim $200,000

It is odd that Karl Richard Antonius did not take part in the court case. He would have been served with the materials long before any trial dates had ever been set. This suggests that either Mr. Antonius believes that he has no assets or income that will be available to the claimant or that he now resides in another country and does not believe the judgement will be recognized there. Either way a high likelihood of a dry judgement.

— William Mastop via iNFOnews.ca

City of Kamloops allows OneBC event but isn’t happy about it

We need another recall here.

— Bonnie Derry via iNFOnews.ca

---

Disclaimer: Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on this page are solely those of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the editor, iNFOnews.ca, iNFOTEL MULTIMEDIA, its partners, principals or advertisers.