Upwards of 800 UBC community members came together yesterday to show their support and solidarity with survivors of residential schools and their descendants — the crowd also opposed the presence of a group of residential school deniers, stopping them from entering the solidarity demonstration.
At 10:30 a.m., a crowd of about 150 people gathered in front of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC). Some held signs reading “every child matters” and “history has its eyes on us.” Others listened to the music playing through the speakers.
OneBC leader Dallas Brodie, along with former Mount Royal University professor Frances Widdowson and former Abbotsford school teacher Jim McMurtry, had planned an event on campus as part of a series of provocative appearances at post-secondary campuses, notably at the University of Victoria and Thompson Rivers University (TRU).
The B.C. Conservative Party removed Brodie, who is the MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena, last March for mocking the testimonies of residential school survivors. She then founded OneBC — a far-right political party that has called for the defunding of the “reconciliation industry” — in June 2025.
A week before Brodie’s TRU event, that university’s president wrote that the event was “unsanctioned” and had issued a notice under the authority of the Trespass Act. Similarly, before Brodie’s UVic event, the university issued a statement that they were aware of an upcoming “divisive” event and that its organizers never requested space on campus. In the same statement, UVic affirmed the school’s commitment to uphold ʔetalnəw̓əl̓, a SENĆOŦEN word meaning respect for the “rights of one another and being in right relationship with all things.”
UBC never issued a public statement on its own channels before yesterday’s events. In a statement on Instagram, the Indigenous Student Society said it was “extremely disappointed" in the university for failing to do so and not “renouncing this group and their actions.”
“The Indigenous Student Society will always choose TRUTH over silence and honours the LIVED EXPERIENCES of those who were sent to Residential Schools. There is no debate to be had regarding the atrocious reality of this history.”
The AMS also released a statement denouncing “all forms of discrimination and marginalization on campus and categorically [condemning] this event.”
“We strongly support the rights of anyone who plans to peacefully protest the event.”
At about 11 a.m., Brodie and her supporters entered the area where community members had gathered.
Brodie told The Ubyssey that she was on campus to have an “open dialogue” about the claims of mass graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School, saying that the claims are “simply not true … we need to have truth about this, and that's why we're here.”
The Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc — formerly Kamloops Indian Band — announced in 2021 that it had used ground-penetrating radar to identify 215 potential unmarked burial sites at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. The investigation is ongoing, but residential school denialists have seized on the present incompleteness of that process to discredit reconciliation generally.
In its 2024 final report, the office of the independent special interlocutor for residential school burial sites says that such sites are “well known” among Indigenous people. Efforts by survivors and families to find and commemorate them began in the 1960s. In a December statement addressing denialist narratives about residential schools, the IRSHDC repeated that the record of atrocities is "coherent and overwhelming."
"The history of the Indian Residential School system does not require debate. It is established through the voices of Survivors, through government and church records, through the extensive findings of national commissions and inquiries, and through the ongoing work of Indigenous communities who have carried these truths across generations," the centre said.
Brodie added that her group was on campus to engage with people, unlike the community members who came in support of Indigenous voices, whom she called “performative.” Brodie said her fellow event organizers McMurtry and Widdowson were “destroyed” by the “reconciliation industry and [the] indoctrination that goes on at the universities.”
Community members formed a barricade with their bodies, stopping Brodie and her supporters from coming near the IRSHDC.
One OneBC supporter called 911, alleging UBC community members were restricting her movement. There was no one behind the woman or blocking her from leaving — community members only stood in front of her, not allowing her to enter the crowd.
Chants of “OneBC, off our campus” and “the students united will never be defeated” echoed through the area as community members began blowing whistles and air horns and banging drums.
Campus security and the RCMP were present from the start. A few minutes after arriving, OneBC supporters tried to go deeper into the crowd, leading to some pushing with UBC community members. It’s not clear when interactions started to become violent, or which individuals instigated it.
At one point, Brodie said that the university needs to lose its funding “immediately” until events like yesterday’s demonstration of solidarity are stopped. Since the event, she has started a petition to defund UBC. It alleges the university gave way to a “Far Left Riot” which shut down a “discussion” with denialists.
“We have Indigenous people on campus, and survivors, descendants of survivors, and it's important that they're recognized and that they feel safe on campus,” said third-year student Zachary Johnson, who attended the protest. “These individuals [OneBC and their supporters] coming to campus undermines their safety.”
At 11:30 a.m., organizers in solidarity with residential school survivors and their descendants attempted to draw community members away from engaging with OneBC representatives. “If you are standing with us, stand with us,” one organizer said over speakers set up outside the Irving K. Barber Library. “Do not let them bait you. Do not let them fight you. Stand together and stand in solidarity.” They urged attendees to congregate around the fountain, where a dancing and drumming circle had formed.
Attendees chanted, beat drums and joined in on the dancing led by Charlie Michael Pete, an 11th-grade Witset powwow dancer dressed in full regalia. “Once I heard what was happening, I was like, ‘Heck, let me pack my regalia, let’s go tomorrow,’” he said in an interview with The Ubyssey. “Let’s … spread the energy and let them know who we are and what happened.”
Campus security stopped several altercations from escalating during the event — but also faced significant criticism from both groups for not intervening more effectively. Officers were constantly being flagged down with reports of violence. Multiple people gave accounts of assaults to The Ubyssey.
About 30 minutes in, one group of OneBC supporters was asked to leave by campus security and began to move out. Another group of them was notified 15 minutes later. In a video recorded by The Ubyssey, an RCMP officer can be heard telling Widdowson to leave campus or face arrest for trespassing. She didn't move. After she sat on the ground, three officers picked her up and started carrying her to a waiting police vehicle. Once in the vehicle, she could be seen smiling at the crowd formed around her.
The Ubyssey later called the RCMP university detachment and was informed that Widdowson had been released and no charges were laid.
In a media release after the protest, UBC stated campus security had worked closely with concerned community stakeholders and University RCMP to “develop a security plan that focused on ensuring the safety and security of the campus community and visitors.”
“When it became clear that there were potential safety risks, campus security, with the support of the RCMP, directed the visitors to leave the campus for their own safety. As the visitors were not following these instructions, RCMP then facilitated their departure from campus." The university claimed it was "not aware of any arrests or injuries during this protest" and directed questions about law enforcement to the RCMP.
Pete and others danced beside the fountain to a crowd of around 600, many of whom wore orange and held signs in support of residential school survivors. At 12:20 p.m., after OneBC’s crowd had left, the dancers stopped and organizers thanked attendees for their support as the crowd dispersed.
Shortly after Widdowson was arrested, Brodie and her supporters made their way toward the bus loop, while another group headed up University Boulevard after stopping at the East Mall roundabout outside the bookstore. After about 10 minutes, some RCMP officers were diverted from the bookstore scene to attend to the Aquatic Centre, where Brodie and her supporters had sought refuge as some community members had followed the group, wanting to see them off campus.
Drea Humphrey — a content creator for the far-right blog Rebel News — had bodyguards, funded by donations, who barricaded the doors with their bodies and kept the OneBC supporters inside the Aquatic Centre. UBC community members attempted to push through the bodyguards to enter the centre.
A source familiar with the matter told The Ubyssey that neither the RCMP nor campus security ushered OneBC into the facility. It’s unclear who made the call.
Two UBC campus security officers at the scene refrained from involving themselves in the crowd.
Within 10 minutes, RCMP officers arrived on scene and locked the doors. Brodie and her supporters were kept inside. Community members remained outside the glass, continuing to express their opposition as OneBC and its supporters remained protected by police inside the Aquatic Centre lobby. Community members followed their movements through the glass walls, waiting for the group to exit the building.
Callie Macmillan, another student who attended the protest, said she felt “disgusted … some people couldn't even be on campus because they fear for their safety … I can't believe UBC is doing this. I can't believe the cops are just standing in there with them.”
At 12:47 p.m., Brodie and her supporters exited the building through the back entrance, escorted by police. A TransLink bus was waiting specifically for them. In a statement obtained by the CBC, TransLink wrote that "University RCMP requested that Coast Mountain Bus Company move approximately 50 people off UBC campus to enhance safety … when asked to do so, Coast Mountain Bus Company and TransLink support police requests to enhance public safety when incidents are unfolding."
As Brodie and her associates were bused off of campus, UBC community members waved them away; blowing whistles, banging hand drums, yelling “run away coward!” and attempting to stand in front of the bus itself. RCMP officers stopped them from standing on the road and cleared a path for the bus to exit.
After the solidarity event had ended, the ISS posted another statement, reading “we are moved by everyone’s effort … to facilitate a space that was safe, respectful, and grounded in community values.”
“Together, we drowned out harm and hate with unity, and reaffirming that Indigenous lives, voices, and truths are not up for debate.”
