267. Terry Glavin: This Journalist Questioned Kamloops 215—Then They Tried to Cancel Him

Terry Glavin, were you cancelled for questioning the Kamloops 215 story?

There were certain people who made a very, very vigorous attempt to cast me out and to declare me a heretic.

What did you say? There were 1,300 children whose remains were said to have been disinterred or found or discovered at residential school sites across the country.

None of that was true.

Something wasn't true.

Never happened.

Out of curiosity, you've studied residential schools.

How would you describe them? I think I may have been the first

national columnist in Canada to say that it is not unreasonable at all to describe the residential schools, the federal residential schools project as policy of cultural genocide.

I have no quarrel with them.

The Globe and Mail has called the original coverage a failure of journalism, while Canada Land has revisited its treatment of the story.

Do you feel vindicated? Well, I felt vindicated a

long time ago, I suppose.

Based on everything presently known, what do you believe is beneath the Kamloops Orchard? Children's burials, unrelated disturbances, or something we cannot yet identify? Terry Glavin, thank you so much for being willing to join us today.

It's a privilege to have you on the show.

You're much mentioned by individuals like Tara Henley and Harrison Lauman.

I'm wondering if you could first briefly introduce yourself.

Well, I'm this guy, you know.

I'm a journalist and an author.

I've been around for a long time.

I'm currently and have been for some time now a columnist for the National Post.

Formerly was contributing editor of Maclean's Magazine, columnist with the Ottawa Citizen, briefly a columnist for the Globe and Mail.

Came up in the business in reporting and I've written several books.

Most of my interest over the last 10 or 20 years has been international human rights, the Middle East, the Far East.

But I have written two or three books, maybe four that you could say – are either set in what we used to call Indian country or address issues related to Canadian history and indigenous crown relations and so on.

Spent a lot of time up coast with the Gixxan.

My first book actually was about the Gixxan and their cosmology and their land claims, which ended up being the leading Aboriginal title case in Canada.

And then with the Chilcotin people, which is now the leading Aboriginal title case in Canada, I co-authored a book with the Namaya people, the Chilcotins who won that case.

And yeah, that's basically who I am.