Indigenous Services Canada Minister Mandy Gull Masty at a news conference on Parliament Hill in May. Photo: APTN.
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty says she is “absolutely disgusted and appalled” after seeing a photograph of masked men who appeared on Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc land Sunday, three days before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Gull-Masty, a Cree woman from Waswanipi and the first Indigenous person to hold the Indigenous Services portfolio, spoke at the National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Incorporated (NICHI) on Monday and was asked about the incident.
“I’m really disturbed by the level of comfort that I see in the behaviour that’s been carried out,” she said. “I haven’t had the opportunity to receive my briefing. I can’t comment on exactly what happened. I haven’t received the details of that activity yet.
“But I can confidently say that I’m absolutely disgusted and appalled.”
Kamloops Indian Residential School
Kúkwpi7 (chief) Rosanne Casimir said in a Sunday statement that “individuals associated with Second Sons Canada, a group linked to white supremacist and white nationalist ideology, have been seen and documented within our community.”
Photos circulating Sunday show men in black clothing, white face coverings and matching caps on the reserve, some with flags. A later image appears to show the same group on the Pacific Way overpass in Kamloops holding a banner that read “Got Bones?”
The former Kamloops Indian Residential School sits on Tk̓emlúps land. It was operated by the Roman Catholic Church between 1890 and 1969 and was the largest school in the country, with as many as 500 students at a time.
In 2021, the Nation announced that ground-penetrating radar had detected what it said were 215 suspected unmarked graves. The language changed shortly after to say that the radar had found “anomalies.”
Families and Survivors have spent the years since seeking answers. The banner mocked that search.
“White supremacy will not instill fear in generations of Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors who have already carried fear for far too long,” she said. “We have endured fear, and we will not be intimidated.”
She said the Sept. 30 events on the Nation will go ahead with extra precautions.
Kamloops and Tk̓emlúps rural RCMP Supt. Jeff Pelley said officers with the Tk̓emlúps detachment were called at about 7:25 a.m. Sunday to a report of a large group in black clothing and white masks.
In a statement Monday, Pelley called the “got bones” banner and the use of masks “a cowardly attempt to avoid accountability for actions and messages that are clearly intended to intimidate, provoke fear and division,” and said the RCMP is investigating and will pursue any offences that can support prosecution.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak shared the AFN’s condemnation.
“The AFN strongly condemns the display of racism and hate by white nationalists today at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc,” the organization that represents more than 600 First Nations across the country said.
“We call for a full investigation and for governments and Canadians to join us in pushing back against racism. There is no place for this in today’s society. We must stand together against ignorance, racism and lies, and stand up for First Nations rights, for truth, and for reconciliation.”
The cowardly act that took place at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc yesterday, is abhorrent. It has no place in this country. My thoughts are with everyone who are shaken and hurt by this disgusting display of hate.
This week, we will mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.…
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) September 28, 2026
NDP MP Leah Gazan [Winnipeg Centre], the party’s critic for Indigenous affairs, issued a statement Monday tying the gathering to what she called a wider campaign of residential school denialism.
“The act of hate and violence shown by white nationalist residential school denialists demonstrating on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation is abhorrent, dangerous and unacceptable,” Gazan said.
“This demonstration is a part of the escalating and harrowing attacks from residential school denialists, seeking attention and monetization from the promotion of hate. I join the Assembly of First Nations’ calls for a full investigation, and for governments to take urgent action to respond to residential school denialism with the urgency and seriousness needed to protect the safety and dignity of survivors.”
Gazan noted the House of Commons unanimously recognized the Indian residential school system as a genocide in 2022. She said governments should treat the weekend’s actions as “the violent denial of genocide.”
She is the sponsor of Bill C-254, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred against Indigenous peoples), which received first reading on Oct. 31, 2025. The private member’s bill would add a new offence under the Criminal Code.
The proposed wording says: “Everyone who, by communicating statements, other than in private conversation, wilfully promotes hatred against Indigenous peoples by condoning, denying, downplaying or justifying the Indian residential school system in Canada or by misrepresenting facts relating to it” would be guilty of an indictable offence punishable by up to two years in prison, or of a summary conviction offence. Truth before reconciliation, residential school denialism
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Gazan said she has offered the bill to the Liberal government to take on as government legislation.
“Survivors have asked governments to protect their safety and their stories from residential school denialists,” she said. “It is incumbent on the Liberal government to ensure the safety of survivors. Survivors deserve more than our words of condemnation. We owe them real action and real protection.”
Second Sons Canada is a men-only group founded in 2024. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network has described it as Canada’s largest white nationalist “active club.” A March 2026 Public Safety Canada brief grouped it with other far-right active clubs and said it had more than 15 chapters.
Casimir called on Ottawa and British Columbia to go beyond statements.
“Reconciliation requires more than words,” she said. “It requires ongoing action to ensure Indigenous peoples can live safely and free from intimidation.
In a spring session of the Senate, Sen. Nancy Karekak-Lindell [Nunavut] tried to pass an amendment that would have added a line to Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, essentially making residential school denialism a punishable crime.
It stated that “everyone who, by communicating statements other than in private conversation, willfully promotes hatred against Indigenous Peoples by condoning, denying or downplaying the Indian Residential Schools System (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.”
While the amendment passed the vote in the Human Rights committee, it failed to pass in the Senate.
Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc is a Secwépemc Nation community next to Kamloops. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is Wednesday.
With files from Emma Honeybun in Winnipeg and Leanne Sanders in Saskatoon.
