File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

TRU

TRU president says unsanctioned residential school denialist event unwelcome on campus

Nov 11, 2025 | 12:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — An event planned for the Thompson Rivers University campus Wednesday (Nov. 12) has been declared unsanctioned and unwelcome by the school’s president.

A poster circulating on social media promotes an event dubbed ‘Where are the 215 bodies?’ planned for Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. on Student Street, a common area inside TRU’s Old Main building.

Pictured in the poster are OneBC leader Dallas Brodie, former Mount Royal University professor Frances Widdowson and former Abbotsford school teacher Jim McMurtry. Widdowson encouraged her Facebook followers to attend the event.

This poster circulated online promotes an event TRU’s president is calling unsanctioned. (Image Credit: Facebook)

Brodie, Widdowson and McMurtry have all actively advanced arguments contradicting the Le Estcwicwéy̓ (The Missing) announcement made by Tk’emlups te Secwepemc in 2021, which confirmed the presence of 215 suspected unmarked graves near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

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In a post to TRU’s website, President Airini seemingly alluded to the poster, though she did not refer to it specifically. Airini says the school is not hosting the event and does not endorse it, and that the poster’s use of TRU’s logo is unauthorized.

“To be clear, this event is not sanctioned by TRU,” said Airini. “It has not been approved under the university’s Responsible Use of University Space policy, which requires prior authorization for organized activities or filming on campus. The individuals will be instructed that they do not have permission to hold this event at TRU, and that notice has been issued under the B.C. Trespass Act.”

Airini goes on to call the poster “misinformation” and says she understands the purported event may have caused concern among the TRU community, especially Indigenous students and staff.

“TRU stands with survivors, Indigenous communities and all who continue to live with the impacts of residential schools. The university remains committed to ensuring our campuses are places of belonging, learning and respect,” she said.

“Should any additional action be required, TRU will respond proportionately and in accordance with policy and law.”

OneBC does not promote the TRU event on its website, though it is promoting a meet-and-greet with Brodie on Thursday at the Coast Kamloops Hotel and Conference Centre.

It notes Brodie will speak to “Aboriginal title claims in Kamloops, property rights and the need for constitutional change.”