A staff member from the British Columbia Conservative Party was terminated after making derogatory comments about the orange Survivors’ flag, which pays tribute to survivors of residential schools, on social media. Lindsay Shepherd, a former communications officer for the B.C. Conservative caucus, faced backlash following her posts on the platform X last week.
The incident occurred after several NDP, Conservative, and Green MLAs raised the Survivors’ flag at the legislature in Victoria in advance of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30. Shepherd criticized the flag and associated orange shirt, claiming they perpetuate falsehoods about Canadian history, particularly regarding the discovery of children’s graves in Kamloops.
Although Shepherd deleted the post shortly after sharing it, a screenshot was circulated by Rohini Arora, NDP MLA for Burnaby East. Arora commended the Conservative caucus for dismissing Shepherd, highlighting the importance of confronting bigotry within political parties.
In response to her termination, Shepherd expressed disappointment, mentioning her role as an elected board member of the party since 2022. The BC Conservative Party has not provided a statement regarding the incident.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs called Shepherd’s remarks “shocking” and “disgusting,” emphasizing the harmful impact of denying the existence of residential schools. Former B.C. Green MLA Adam Olsen condemned the comments as “vile” and criticized attempts to distort the true history of the province.
The controversy stems from the discovery of potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in May 2021, prompting a nationwide reckoning with the historical injustices inflicted on Indigenous communities.
