IF YOU SIGN THIS PETITION, PLEASE INDICATE WHETHER YOU ARE A STUDENT OR EMPLOYEE AT UBC NEXT TO YOUR NAME, AND/OR THE NAME OF THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY YOU ARE FROM IF YOU IDENTIFY AS INDIGENOUS e.g., Clarence Brent (UBCO Student; Syilx Okanagan Nation)

We are two graduate students from the University of British Columbia (Okanagan; UBCO) seeking the support of fellow UBC students, UBC staff, and the wider community in our request that UBC prohibits OneBC, a residential school denialist group, from demonstration activities on our Okanagan campus or any UBC campus again. 

In late January, 2026, OneBC engaged in demonstration activities on the UBC Vancouver campus, with UBC only intervening when circumstances became unsafe. Unfortunately, some Indigenous students and employees were forced to avoid campus the day of the demonstration due to concerns about safety and the emotional toll invoked by this group's hateful, racist messaging.  The ongoing threat that OneBC may return to the Vancouver campus or come to the Okanagan campus also causes undue stress and anxiety among Indigenous students, many of who have living relatives who endured the horrors of residential schools or who have personally experienced such traumas themselves. OneBC’s demonstration activities clearly threaten the safety and wellbeing of UBC students and staff, violating UBC's commitment to campus safety. Furthermore, OneBC’s denial of the horrific treatment of Indigenous people in residential schools across Canada constitutes a violation of defamation laws outlined in Canada’s Criminal Code. It is also a form of hate speech, according to BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner; "...a few examples of what hate speech typically includes....Denying, minimizing or celebrating past persecution or tragedies that happened to group members"). 

Our ask to UBC is that, minimally, they follow the lead of other BC post-secondary education institutions, including Thompson River University and the University of Victoria, by issuing a statement to remind OneBC that their demonstration activities are unsanctioned/unauthorized, and will be treated as trespassing. We urge UBC to also consider outright banning demonstration activities by residential school denialist groups, a request which has also been made by Indigenous leaders to all BC universities. 

By helping protect Indigenous members of the UBC community, UBC has an opportunity to uphold their commitment to truth and reconciliation;

“In modern times, the continuing failure to address this history has meant that the previous ways of thinking—or of not thinking—about the residential school system have remained largely intact. By failing to confront a heinous history, we have become complicit in its perpetuation. This is not a result that we, as a university, can accept any longer”(UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan, p 9).  

If you are interested in helping with this initiative, please sign this petition to show your support of our letter and request to UBC; there is great strength in numbers!

A friendly reminder to please INDICATE WHETHER YOU ARE A STUDENT OR EMPLOYEE AT UBC NEXT TO YOUR NAME, AND/OR THE NAME OF THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY YOU ARE FROM IF YOU IDENTIFY AS INDIGENOUS.