In this conversation with Robert Vaughan, guest Jim McMurtry challenges what he describes as widespread falsehoods promoted by some “Indigenous” leaders in British Columbia. Drawing on historical records, he argues that children who died while enrolled at the Kamloops Indian Residential School did so from disease or accidents—not from deliberate violence by nuns who allegedly left them out in the cold.

After being removed from the classroom for raising these points, McMurtry has spoken publicly against land acknowledgements and the claim that Canada committed genocide against Indigenous peoples. He contends that the drive behind these narratives is not only virtue signaling by institutions and officials, but also greed: large financial transfers, lucrative land claims, high salaries and investments for some leaders, and an industry of litigation and compensation that rewards the continuation of the claims.

Speaking out cost him a long teaching career, but it also brought public recognition for his willingness to question official narratives and allowed him to exercise the freedom of speech he has valued since early adulthood.