A staff member of the British Columbia Conservative Party was terminated after making derogatory remarks about the orange Survivors’ flag, a symbol honoring survivors of residential schools, on social media. Lindsay Shepherd, previously employed as a communications officer for the B.C. Conservative caucus, faced backlash following her comments on the platform X last week.
During a ceremonial event last Thursday, several NDP, Conservative, and Green MLAs raised the Survivors’ flag at the legislature in Victoria ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30. The following day, Shepherd posted on social media criticizing the flag and an associated orange shirt, claiming they perpetuate falsehoods about Canadian history, including the alleged discovery of 215 children’s graves in Kamloops.
Although Shepherd deleted the post shortly after publishing it, a screenshot was shared by Rohini Arora, NDP MLA for Burnaby East. Arora commended the Conservative caucus for dismissing Shepherd and praised Conservative MLAs who opposed bigotry within the party.
In response to her termination, Shepherd disclosed that B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad fired her due to the controversial social media post. The decision came as a shock to Shepherd, who highlighted her previous involvement as an elected board member with the party since 2022.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs had urged Rustad to terminate Shepherd over her remarks, condemning her denial of residential schools as “racist” and “disgusting.” Former B.C. Green MLA Adam Olsen, a negotiator for the Tsartlip First Nation, condemned Shepherd’s comments as “vile” and emphasized the importance of acknowledging the true history of the province.
The controversy surrounding Shepherd’s comments comes in the wake of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation’s announcement in May 2021 regarding the preliminary discovery of approximately 200 potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. This revelation sparked a nationwide movement as Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous Canadians alike grappled with the historical traumas inflicted by residential schools.