BC Conservative staffer Lindsay Shepherd fired after social media post slams Survivors’ flag, questions Kamloops graves story

The BC Conservative Party has fired a communications staffer after she attacked the Survivors’ flag and orange shirt campaign on social media, calling them symbols of “lies” tied to the unproven Kamloops graves claims.

Lindsay Shepherd, who had worked for the caucus since 2022, posted last week that “the Orange Shirt and the Orange Flag perpetuate untruths about Canadian history, such as the grandest lie of all that 215 children’s graves were unearthed in Kamloops.”

She added: “It is a disgrace that this fake flag flies in front of the provincial parliament buildings, and it is a disgrace to see the shirt of lies framed prominently and permanently beside the coat of arms.” The post was later deleted, but a screenshot was circulated by NDP MLA Rohini Arora, says the CBC

Shepherd confirmed on X that party leader John Rustad terminated her employment after the controversy. “I am a mother of two young children, and I am 32 weeks pregnant — I was about to go on maternity leave,” she wrote.

Her remarks went into the scandal over the 2021 Kamloops residential school announcement, when Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said ground-penetrating radar had detected what could be 215 children’s remains. The claim prompted worldwide outrage, with then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visiting the site and placing a teddy bear on the grounds, calling it “an irrefutable part of our present.”

But three years later, no remains have been recovered. The federal government has acknowledged spending about $8 million on fieldwork, document searches, and site security, according to the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations. Critics say the funding produced no evidence of graves and left unanswered questions about how the money was spent.

Arora said the caucus acted appropriately in removing Shepherd and praised Conservative MLAs “who stand up to bigotry inside their party.” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs condemned Shepherd’s comments as “shocking” and said, “Residential school denial is a terrible, racist sickness that is given public expression with impunity in this province and in this country.”