Edmonton Journal has reported:

About 120 students and supporters walked out at St. John Paul II school in Grande Prairie on Oct. 13 to protest social studies teacher Amy Davidson’s social media posts disputing that graves were found at Kamloops Indian Residential School. The demonstration took place on an Arbour Hills walking trail more than half a kilometre from the school. Some participants carried large cardboard signs reading “Don’t let the uneducated educate us”; others held letter-sized signs stating, “The Kamloops mass graves are real”.

Davidson had shared a post by Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada and a cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper. Bernier wrote on X: “Let’s tell the truth: no bodies were found in Kamloops. The residential-school ‘genocide’ claim is a hoax.” Davidson shared it on Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Students and former students criticized the posts and raised concerns about the teacher’s role in teaching young people about residential schools. Senior student Isobel Knopf said: “I just feel like it’s not appropriate for someone who needs to teach the youth about our history. Actively denying it. And it’s not fair or right that she can be saying these things and actively harming these people and to have no consequences,”

Zoie Stack, who graduated last year and had Davidson as a teacher in Grade 10, said the posts were difficult to read. She recalled considering Davidson her favourite teacher at the time. “I got frustrated because she was my teacher in grade 10. I graduated last year, and it’s horrible to know that my sister’s at a school where she’s teaching actively.”

Nelly Cunningham said she learned about the walkout on Facebook and was concerned about Davidson’s ongoing influence on students. “She’s so self-centred. It’s so arrogant to see what’s going on around it. I don’t even think she realized what she was saying. And if she does, then it’s like, should you really be teaching at that point?”

Davidson defended her views in responses to people questioning her posts, reaffirming her agreement with Bernier and saying the timing on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was relevant. In another exchange, she identified herself as a social studies teacher and said misinformation about false genocide claims was disheartening because it created a “boy who cried wolf” type scenario.

In a further post, Davidson again rejected the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She wrote: “I don’t disagree with any of that. However, the Kamloops ‘mass grave’ is false, and beyond that, there is no evidence that there was a genocide of Canadian indigenous people, or a plan for a genocide. Facts matter.” Davidson declined to speak on the record.

The commission’s 2015 final report described the Canadian Indian Residential School system as a cultural genocide of Indigenous culture, language and families. It estimated that more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were forcibly taken from their homes and placed in schools managed by governments and churches.

The commission also documented widespread physical, sexual and emotional abuse. It reported that thousands of children died, many were in unmarked graves, and their families were never notified.

On Oct. 3, Dr. Jessie Shirley, superintendent, addressed the posts in a letter to staff titled “Truth and Reconciliation is our Legal and Moral Directive.” Referring to the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Final Report, Shirley said the school division moves forward by embracing two statements: “Residential school denialism is unacceptable” and “reconciliation isn’t an Aboriginal problem, but instead a Canadian one.”

The school district responded to calls by email, saying: “We believe our students should feel empowered to express their perspectives, advocate for what they believe in and engage in respectful, peaceful dialogue on matters that are meaningful to them and their communities.” The division said it does not comment publicly on individual personnel matters.