When Human Flamethrowers Speak
some FN leaders (including UBCIC) gave a presser today at the FNLG and I caught a few minutes of it
Before I get into the nitty gritty, I have a question.
Why does the Union of BC Indian Chiefs received grant money from the interest earned on deposits made from residential property sales in BC?
The Real Estate Foundation of BC gave the UBCIC a grant in the amount of $250,000 this year. Over the past several years the REFBC also gave grant money to two members of the plaintiff group in the Cowichan Tribes case — Cowichan and Halalt First Nation, as well as to defendants Musqueam and Tsawwassen Nations.
On its website the REFBC describes its grant program as part of a path of reconciliation that is grounded in truth. Okay, well I don’t see truth or reconciliation, I see organisations fighting the colonial capitalist system that powers BC taking handouts from a symbol of that colonial capitalist system. 95% of BC land remains unceded, meaning not covered by a treaty agreement with First Nations. Meaning property sales embody and compound the ongoing historical wrongdoing of imperial land grabs. So, these grants come from that tainted pot of money. And washing that money by giving it to indigenous people engaged in an ongoing struggle to win Aboriginal title rights the wrong? Really? Nah. I question the integrity of representative indigenous NGOs and nations taking this money. To me, it represents fruit from a poisonous tree.
Video Transcript
Thank you for that question and certainly the rhetoric that we’re hearing about not recognizing title or recognizing the First Nations lands that we’re on is I think we need to combat that and certainly part of it is treaties as related to the Declaration of Treaties, Agreements, other constructive arrangements, the transmission line, the recognition of Haida title. Really, I think that’s what we need more of. And further to that, those that aren’t in the treaty process, I think we need legislation such as what was committed to in terms of the action plan, the well over 80, 89 action plan measures, if you will, that we agreed to with the province of BC.
Last week at the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations AGM, we passed a resolution calling for the resignation of Dallas Brody because of the sentiments that she’s putting out there in terms of really, think, what we’re seeing. And it’s really hurtful for many of those residential school survivors that experienced trauma, that experience, know, everything that we all know about in terms of, you know, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And we fully well know that there were well over 4,000 children that are missing and that perhaps died within residential schools. That number is probably even higher.
And what we’ve seen at the Kamloops Indian Residential School is really indicative of that. And the fact remains is that, you know, these schools, these residential schools, they were, it was policy. It was love. Our children were stolen and brought to these institutions and some of them died there. That’s the truth. And you know, to have somebody in government, in the provincial government to say otherwise is disrespectful, it’s hurtful, and I would say is hate speech in terms of, know, from a perspective of many of the residential school survivors and many First Nations. So certainly we have to call it out and we have to keep...especially our government officials accountable to what they’re saying. And that’s really important. And as part of the leadership council, I think we need to keep this government accountable and all levels of government accountable. And perhaps, you know, in the end, I think there’s a better way forward. And I think, you know, the First Nations leadership gathering is indicative of that.
It allows us to have respectful conversations, perhaps negotiations, discussions of our relationship with the provincial government. And that’s what is needed more than ever. Thank you. As I indicated earlier, I have two great grandchildren, 15 grandchildren and five adult children. And one of the most heartbreaking things I think I’ve ever became aware of is most, know, the BC legislature is an institution that is greatly valued by all British Columbians.
Consequently, it happens on a regular basis that teachers bring their students into the public gallery. Those children witness racialized hatred with the acrimonious debate that goes on in the House. And that’s not what the BC legislature is supposed to be about. Our elders say those institutions are the center of our truth. And we need serious people to undertake the challenging work that represents the government agenda. And there’s no room for someone like Dallas Brody, whose sole purpose in life is to continue to extol her racist, white supremacist, ugly rhetoric and we need to understand that the future of our children and grandchildren is the business of the house and we simply don’t need that. So I support her total removal. Thank you.
Let’s unpack this video clip from a UBCIC presser at the FNLG that took place on Tuesday November 4th.
*NB: For clarity, this is Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip with the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs speaking in this clip. The other chiefs who addressed the press along with David Eby included Lyackson First Nation hereditary chief Shana Thomas of the First Nations Summit.
“treaties as related to the Declaration of Treaties, Agreements, other constructive arrangements, the transmission line, the recognition of Haida title. Really, I think that’s what we need more of”
I concur. B.C. is the only province in Canada where the majority of land has no treaty governing it, with respect to Aboriginal title. And yet we are also the only province with a Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the DRIPA legislation. The province literally legally mandated recognition of Aboriginal rights, land title being a significant part of those rights. That’s fact, Aboriginal title is a fact. It’s embedded in the 1982 Constitution Act. It was embedded in the 1867 Constitution Act. It was addressed in the 1763 Royal Proclamation. James Douglas expressed it more than once during his tenure as Governor of BC in the 1850s.
The longstanding refusal of the BC provincial government to acknowledge Aboriginal title and enter in good faith treaty negotiations has led to a complacency amongst British Columbians regarding land rights. The courts have historically had to force the hand of the province and this ruling continues that battle the courts and the BC government have inflicted on British Columbian society. It ultimately harms third party individuals by creating painful uncertainty, and we see that in Richmond now.
Malcolm Brodie certainly hasn’t responded to the ruling in a constructive way, he’s not helping the people whom he serves and who elected him. Dallas Brodie has also not handled the reconciliation file very well or constructively. Her hurtful and hard hearted words have cast a damaging dark shadow onto BC. Both of these elected officials has behaved recklessly and irresponsibly, they’ve damaged an important and tenuous relationship that must be leaned into and strengthened going forward.
We now need to stop looking to human flamethrowers to lead us out of this purgatorial who say incendiary and asshole things whenever they open their mouths. Dallas Brodie said some hurtful things in these clips I’ve shared. Conservatives who laud her as the second come Messiah who will save them from the purgatory in which we now live failed to acknowledge that she said these things. Doubling down on the asshole things we have said in the past doesn’t help us move forward. It makes and keeps us stuck in the muck of our egoism and arrogance. I mean this for both sides of the reconciliation issue. The weak mousy duplicitous leadership of David Eby hasn’t helped anything, either.
video via Wade Grant (a constituent of Dallas Brodie) on Xwitter, March 2025.
video of Dallas Brodie telling First Nations “they need to come and take responsibility for their people in the DTES,” via Wade Grant on Xwitter, October 2024
I just found these clips this morning via Wade Grant. I find it shocking to hear an elected representative speaking like this. I think it’s reckless and irresponsible. It raises questions more than it answers any. That’s the TRUTH, and I won’t shy away from it, no matter how uncomfortable.
Free speech doesn’t mean freedom from the consequences of the incendiary things we say. Any elected official needs to represent their part and constituents far better than she’s done here. Duplicity is one thing, mean spirited incendiary assholery is another. I find the cruelty unacceptable, I can understand the anger and hurt that indigenous people feel when they listen to this mean spirited stuff Ms Brodie spewed. Is this deliberate on her part, or did she not consider things from a different angle? I’ll extend the benefit of the doubt to her. Because I don’t know.
“what we’ve seen at the Kamloops Indian Residential School is really indicative”
What did we see at Kamloops Indian Residential School? We saw a GPR scan of an apple orchard near the school detect soil anomalies and, despite no excavation carried out to confirm the nature of those soil anomalies, the country heard about a mass grave of 215 children. GPR can only detect anomalies, it cannot confirm the presence of human remains. Only an excavation can confirm human remains. The Kamloops Indian Band received $12 million dollars to excavate and failed to do so and diverted the money to other endeavours. Apparently the band doesn’t have to excavate because the knowledge keepers know things and we will all have to accept that. So, what’s that fraudulent activity indicative of, reader? We can speculate, can’t we? With physical proof of a mass murder the accusations stand as blood libel. That’s also TRUTH.
So certainly we have to call it out and we have to keep...especially our government officials accountable to what they’re saying.
The chiefs used this presser as an opportunity to announce that they as a group decided they want an elected member of the B.C. legislature removed because she said things in the house they don’t like. Dallas Brodie sits in the legislature as an opposition MLA, not a member of the governing caucus. As well, we have laws about this stuff. Did the esteemed chiefs bother to research grounds for removing an MLA from her seat? The BC Constitution Act indicates the following grounds for forfeiture of an MLA’s seat: absenteeism, allegiance to foreign powers, dual citizenship, or serious criminal convictions. Her behaviour doesn’t come close to meeting the threshold established in the law.
And as part of the leadership council, I think we need to keep this government accountable and all levels of government accountable …it allows us to have respectful conversations.
Who keeps indigenous leaders accountable? Where’s that $12 million at? Where are the bodies in the so-called mass grave? What about the lazy name calling of an elected official? Could we get some accountability for that personal attack? Everything I don’t like is hateful and racist hardly seems like accountability to me, reader. Sliver and plank much?
our relationship with the provincial government
Okay, but the provincial government serves the citizens of BC, so, what about the UBCIC’s (and other FN leadership entities’) relationship with the people of BC? Because from where I’m sitting it sucks, it’s on life support and many don’t trust the UBCIC or any of the First Nations leadership. British Columbians feel browbeaten and psychologically abused by the way “truth and reconciliation” has become a cudgel and the way genocide has become a rhetorical flourish and a portal for dehumanisation and racism. Settler and uninvited guest labels dehumanise and they come awfully close to bigotry. So, the UBCIC’s (and FN leadership’s) relationship with the employers of the provincial government (that’s the citizenry of BC) sucks and that’s a problem. Many feel frustrated with reconciliation and they’re done and have stopped listening and have walked away, feeling their goodwill abused by exploitation and opportunism.
Those children witness racialized hatred
Okay, can we talk about how young non indigenous public school children have to endure struggle sessions in which the teachers force them to recite land acknowledgements and confess that they live on borrowed land? Can we talk about white children having to sit through sessions where the teachers preach to them about white privilege? How do the chiefs think an 8 year old feels about their teachers shaming them like this? It’s psychological abuse, and it’s systematic. Psychological abuse such as progressive struggle sessions inflicted on children traumatises these children. How does it fix the trauma of history that casts a shadow onto today by creating more trauma in the present?
there’s no room for someone like Dallas Brody, whose sole purpose in life is to continue to extol her racist, white supremacist, ugly rhetoric
Dallas Brodie said some cruel things and she mean spiritedly mocked trauma survivors. It’s frustrating and it’s sad that we have this association with the legislature. That said, how much time does Dallas Brodie spend living rent free inside the heads of these chiefs? Censorship and cancellation are devices of oppression and they’re employed by control freaks. Why don’t the UBCIC and other FN leaders call her in rather than call her out? Isn’t the idea to win hearts and minds? So why don’t the chiefs take an approach that attempts to do that?
I’m gonna say that the refusal to engage with honesty the mass graves story thwarts reconciliation. The doubling down sits as a painful obstacle to moving forward, a giant boulder in the road that we cannot get past. The refusal to engage honestly about the excavation, the money given for same, and the hyperbolic stories about the residential school experience undermines the process. FN can’t make accusations of mass murder without physical evidence to back it up. Again, that’s blood libel. It threatens the reconciliation process—the blood libel and opportunism that’s corrupted the residential schools issue has killed reconciliation for many, and that’s very sad. It never had to devolve to this point. Eby’s weak beta leadership has meant he failed everyone. The discourse has become poisonous — Conservatives try to make residential school as a spa camp for abandoned indigenous kids and FN try to make it into an Auschwitz extermination camp for indigenous kids operated by nuns and priests and brothers. Neither interpretation helps anyone, especially the survivors and their descendants.
*NB. Just gonna add that Holocaust envy is a form of hate, it diminishes the horror of the Holocaust and it uses that suffering to further modern day political agendas. It must stop. Nothing in our history compares to the Shoah or to Nazis. Leave the Holocaust and the Nazis in history. Activists must find another way to discuss the horrors of the residential school experience.
I don’t care for Dallas Brodie’s hysterical approach to the Cowichan ruling, nor for her mocking of Residential School Survivors, nor for her comments on indigenous people in the DTES. That doesn’t matter, she’s a human and we can’t just cancel her and remove her from her seat because she hurts our feelings or offends our sensitivities and sometimes lacks self control and devolves into assholery. Like I’ve said, it’s gonna take calling in, rather than calling out. I do think ordinary people in BC are having a natural reaction in their worry over homeownership to the point of hysteria. I don’t think it’s constructive nor warranted and I do think it’s expected under the circumstances.
I think this personal attack against Dallas Brodie and the inflammatory rhetoric that the First Nations leaders expressed sets fire to the situation. I think Dallas said some vile things that reveal an underlying view of indigenous people which needs further examination. I have also for a while thought the Bannonite conservatives’ reaction as inflammatory and disingenuous and a bit nihilistic. They seem to echo Trutch in some uncomfortable ways. Again, I don’t think invoking the racist label helps resolve the dilemma.
We now see both sides meeting fire with fire. No one wants to tone down their rhetoric so we will see hostile warfare discourse. Perhaps FN or a neural third party could try to apply a Daryl Davis approach to this and similar difficult situations? Because otherwise, we will all watch a flame war take place and things will get destroyed by the flames and, after the human flamethrowers burn sh1t down and raze everything to ashes, we’ll still have to reconcile in order to negotiate treaties and agreements. Ultimately each side has adopted a victimhood stance, and we can see that victimhood doesn’t make anyone virtuous.
From the perspective of the angry + fearful + freaked out crowd, the statement by the FN leadership targets their saviour advocate (DB embodies an important and hopeful advocate for many in the right wing). It will create further mistrust in people who will feel less inclined to believe Cowichan doesn’t want their house than they already now feel. It will intensify the hateful rhetoric being expressed about indigenous people in Bannonite conservative circles. That said, many circles of human dysfunction in British Columbia politics could do with a shake up, Bannonites primarily amongst them.
I have a question now. Does everyone who cheers Dallas Brodie on as a messiah know the mean spirited things she’s said? I didn’t know until I researched this article and I’ve heavily edited it on a second and a third pass to reflect what I didn’t know when I first posted it. I was wrong to place so much faith in her, it reminds me to vet more carefully the political and community leaders to whom I give my support. I cannot support Ms Brodie’s political activism now, knowing what I know about her.
I know the Bannonites don’t want reconciliation, by definition Bannonites want to level everything to the ground, they’re uninterested in negotiating or working within the system they see as irreparably flawed and corrupted. That leaves the First Nations leadership. It leaves the normal conservatives and their leadership. It leaves the left wing and their leadership. Do any of these groups want reconciliation or do they want to kick the can down the road and just punish and exact vengeance? Who will time reveal as the true leaders of British Columbia? We need leaders with humble resolve, compassion, and fierce dedication to the public whom they serve. We need leaders who serve, not leaders who seek glory through grandstanding theatrics.
What happened to grace and humility and moral courage?
Will the adults in the room please stand up and come to the front?
Dallas Brodie and Frances Widdowson are some of the few adults in the room. Thank God for them and their fights.