Shot: Canadian schools burn and destroy books to appease indigenous population

French-speaking schools in the Canadian province of Ontario removed almost 5,000 books and burned some of them in a “flame purification ceremony” to appease the local indigenous population, Radio Canada and the National Post reported.

A video prepared for students of some of the 30 schools on the subject said, “We bury the ashes of racism, discrimination and stereotypes in the hope that we will grow up in an inclusive country where all can live in prosperity and security.”

Lyne Cosette, a spokeswoman for the publicly funded francophone Catholic schools of Ontario, told the National Post newspaper, “Symbolically, some books were used as fertilizer,” as well.

On the one hand, she expressed “regret” that the board overseeing the schools did not “ensure a more appropriate plan for the commemorative ceremony and that it was offensive to some members of the community.”

On the other hand, she maintains that the removal of 4,700 books and counting over their subject matter is just fine.

Chaser: School board says it got burned in Indigenous book burning project

After torching 30 books they felt were offensive toward Canada’s Indigenous peoples, and delisting 4,700 others, Ontario’s Conseil scolaire catholique Providence has acknowledged they were not aware the Aboriginal credentials a person they partnered with on the project are in question.

“We are deeply troubled and concerned,” board spokesperson Lyne Cossette told the Toronto Sun on Thursday.

The person whose verification is under scrutiny is Barrie-area resident Suzy Kies, an outspoken First Nations advocate who has appeared on stage and in photographs with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She has now resigned from her Indigenous leadership role within the Liberal Party.

In a statement to CBC’s Radio-Canada, Kies said, “I refuse to have my story used to harm Justin Trudeau and our party” and “this is the reason why I am resigning from my position as co-chair of the Indigenous peoples’ commission.”