Another moment in the search for a wider truth!
The church of which I am a member & inactive elder (PCC) has a seasonal newsletter called Connection (our great monthly magazine The Record, crashed a few years ago, but that is a story for another day). Generally it is filled with feel good stories about happenings across the country. At times, if one didn’t know better one might get the sense that the Presbyterian Church in Canada was growing and expanding and full of renewed spiritual & religious fervour. And maybe that is a good thing…

However, every so often one of the officials at PCC HQ takes it upon themselves to write an editorial-type column. To date I cannot recall an op-ed page: but a recent piece in the Fall edition has prompted me to attempt one. The original piece was entitled Residential School Denialism and Why Christians Should Reject It. It is a bad piece of journalism and itself is one more action that will actually hurt the cause of Reconciliation. Below is a copy of my letter to the author of the PCC editorial – I have already run it by a couple of people who have had first had experience in the world of Indian/Aboriginal Affairs: they support my attempt at a broader interpretation of the reality of Residential Schools.

I am presenting it (and it is not short nor sweet) for you to reflect upon because I think we need to grab back the narrative and try once again to get the conversation more towards a middle ground where we can seriously try to discuss the good, the bad & the indifferent…

October 24th, 2025

Ms. Allyson Carr
Justice Ministries
Presbyterian Church in Canada
50 Wynford Drive
Toronto, ON M3C 1J7

Greetings Ms Carr:

While one could argue Presbyterian Connection is more a newsy, upbeat promoter of feel good activities occurring in our church, opinion pieces such as yours (Fall 2025) jolt us back to a different reality, that the publication is more a mouth piece for the PCC Corporate. Moreover it also demonstrates a somewhat anti-Christian approach to personal justice in that it starts with a unilateral position and determines that anyone not in agreement is worse than a sinner.

So let me start with a question: can there be complete and full reconciliation without complete and full truth?

My response is that the answer is no. Just as one ought not to cherry pick verses from the Bible to defend or advocate for a particular belief or action, neither should one be selective in choosing facts (& fictions) to advance a position the PCC wishes to impose on its members.

It is not Residential School Denialism that Christians (at least those within the PCC) should reject but rather the overly dogmatic and narrowly constructed position that the PCC has taken on the entire Residential Schools issue; not to disagree that inappropriate and unacceptable things happened in residential schools, but denying that a whole lot of good things were done in the pursuit of education needs to be part of the conversation.

Giving you a bit of my background will shed light on my views on this matter:

1. In 1963, I was sent by the PCC Mission Board, as a student minister to the Birdtail Indian Reserve which is located a few kms south of the site of the Birtle Residential School (at that time, operated by the PCC).
2. From 1976-1980, I was a lead consultant for the Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP) and in my role created an educational package (Salmonids in the Classroom) which was one of the first curriculum projects in B.C. that significantly included Aboriginal input & content.
3. 1980-1984, I was Director of Education for the Saskatchewan Region of Indian Affairs (thus responsible for seven [7] residential schools).
4. 1985-1996, I designed, developed and delivered five [5] different Aboriginal Independent Schools in B.C.
5. From the early 1980’s through to mid 2010’s I taught various courses on aspects of Aboriginal Education at the Universities of Saskatchewan & Alberta.

You make the assertion that Christians are called to hear — and to tell — the truth. I could not agree with you more. However there are some questionable assumptions:

(A) PCC was an active participant in this intensely harmful system. Perhaps you could benefit from a real-life example that, at least in part, refutes this. While at the Birdtail Reserve I was asked to attend the closing ceremony for the Birtle Residential School at the end of June 1963. The Manitoba government had made an agreement to take over all federally-delivered education systems and that meant that the Birtle institution was redundant. The closing ceremonies included a sumptuous meal, a worship service and a social hour. While sitting with some ministers I noticed some students across the room in tears. I walked over to talk to them. As I was only eighteen, I was not much older so they accepted my presence. I then asked if they were crying because of how bad the experience at residential school was. Oh no, they exclaimed, almost in unison. Mommy & Poppy (the names they gave to the Director & his wife) really like us and they make sure that we get a good time. We get to play basketball and volleyball and do all kinds of things just like the public schools. But next year we won’t get to do that because those kids (i.e. the white public school students) don’t like us. We will be hated. (At the time Manitoba had a fairly well-known reputation as a racist province.) We don’t want to leave here; this is where we feel at home. [Note: the transfer ended up being delayed and Birtle was not closed until 1967 – so most of those kids I talked to, actually received a more positive educational experience than they feared.]

(B) You seem to equate denialism with thoughtful &/or research-based criticism of the broad-brush assertions of the T&R Commission. Let me move this conversation forward to the early 1980’s. When I came to the Saskatchewan Region (INAC) there was a desire among bureaucrats in Ottawa (& elsewhere) to close the remaining Residential Schools (that they were no longer perceived as originally designed private schools based on the English model). Working with colleagues in the Department & Treasury Board we came up with a plan whereby the federal funds allocated to the residential schools would be kept in the region and re-assigned to in classroom supports for on-reserve students whether attending band controlled schools or local public schools (Aboriginal language learning, cultural education, and other enhancements to the curriculum & pedagogy of Saskatchewan schools) if the residential schools were closed. It would amount to about one thousand dollars per student on top of then current tuition rates of perhaps twenty-seven hundred dollars per student. I was very excited when I then addressed the All Chiefs Conference (Saskatchewan Region) in 1982; but imagine my chagrin when the Chiefs not only vetoed the concept, but they wanted to have the Minister (John Munro) remove me from my position. Why? Because most of them had their kids or those of their colleagues & families in those residential schools – they wanted to be free of such parental responsibilities so they could spend more time in Ottawa negotiating more funding for their communities. I was not too politely told to never bring that concept up again. And, while I was disappointed, I did realize that at least one school (Beauval in the Meadow Lake District) was recognized provincially for its quality of education both in the classroom and in provincial competitions (both in sport and in cultural events). Moreover other residential schools were turning out numerous graduates that were then going to programs at the Universities of Saskatchewan & Regina.

(C) You assume that those who challenge the official narrative increase polarization within Canadian society… when, in fact, your dogmatic position does at least as much to increase polarization. You actually say it best: When truth is devalued in one area, it is not long before it is devalued in other areas too.

(D) If one of the five fundamental PCC commitments is We will listen to & tell the truth about the past then you must strenuously work at telling & hearing the truth – even & especially when it is a difficult truth – because you contend this is a cornerstone of social cohesion and justice. You direct us to read the reports & listen to Survivor accounts. In my work (including times living on reserves) for every Aboriginal I met who was struggling (or at least negative) re the residential school experience, I met two who had positive remembrances. As a sidebar: I offered on numerous occasions to address various church courts to debate on the Aboriginal issues – never has my offer been accepted.

There is so much more I could put before you but I’m not sure you’d be willing to listen. You doubtless have already labelled me a denialist and worthy only of excommunication or at least disbarment from communion. But I am not such an individual – I am simply wishing for the church to regain its commitment to seek the full truth in order that there can be full reconciliation. As an individual I’ve been labelled a sinner on a couple of occasions, but have managed over sixty-two years to occupy pulpits (in student, interim lay or retired elder roles) from the Maritimes to the West Coast. I have a PhD in Educational Administration – focus on ethical reasoning & leadership and am in my final years as an Adjunct Professor in applied ethics. I teach my students to be openly critical to search for solutions to ethical dilemmas that will get us to better. My student reviews indicate that I am more than moderately successful. I would expect my denomination to be as equally committed to critical thinking and the search for getting to better.

Presbyterianism has a long history of searching for the middle in the sense it was opposed to extremes. One can find this in the Session records on file in the Scottish Registry, in the history of Northern Ireland, in the establishment of the Articles of the Declaration of Independence (USA). Moreover, in the debates over church union in 1925 much was made of the pro side simply wanting to create a modern united church without adequately analyzing what that would ultimately mean. In a sermon I delivered a couple of years ago I asked: Is our church awake or simply woke? That question, after reading your column, remains vitally relevant.

In conclusion may I add a couple of lingering thoughts?
• I’d have the same concerns if you were to try to argue that the church should condemn those who would promote the fossil fuel industry.
• From the late 70’s, at least in Saskatchewan, the residential schools were for all intents and purposes run by the various District Chiefs and the vast majority of staff were Aboriginal. Moreover the standards of living were certainly on a par with the Canadian Food Guide.
• On Saturday, October 5th on CBC an anti-denialist Aboriginal talked about kids burying the dead – there was no questioning and thus no answering, leaving the impression this was a common practice throughout the entire history of those institutions: this is what anti-denialism leads to, ever more hyperbole, ever more fudging the truth.
• And less you think I am a solitary viewpoint, there are others than could collaborate this entire fallacy of denialism – unfortunately my Aboriginal PhD colleague and the Hereditary Chief of the Gitanyow are both deceased, but there are former professional educators who have been ignored, even at the T&R hearings, who would have helped clarify the conversation.
• Finally a personal aside: my forebears were kicked off their lands in Scotland due to the clearances and then later in Canada their farm was confiscated for a DND spy camp (and many family heirlooms were confiscated as well so that the farm would look like nothing was different) – What was the response? Shake it off and work harder to build a new life and don’t fall to being a victim. The result of this attitude: a school is now named in honour of my Great Grandfather (built in part on land he had originally donated for the first area schoolhouse). Perhaps if we all were to work harder at dealing with the whole truth of the residential school system, we would help move many Aboriginal people away from being victims and becoming independent, self-supporting productive individuals within whatever cultural context they opted to choose.

Should you wish to have a further conversation on this matter, I have a toll-free number you can use to reach me [1-866-4-ethink which is 1-866-438-4465].

In His service,
Glenn W. Sinclair, PhD

In reflection,
g.w.