Church attacks: Head of civil liberties group resigns after controversial tweet

Harsha Walia, who was the executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) in Canada, retweeted an article about the acts of arson targeting the churches, adding, “Burn it all down”

The Indo-Canadian head of British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has resigned after an inflammatory social media post related to church burnings in Canada after the discovery of unmarked graves of indigenous children caused fury against the Catholic Church in the country.

A man stands by a teepee surrounded by solar lights and flags that now mark the spots where 751 human remains were recently discovered in unmarked graves at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School on the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan on June 27, 2021. (AFP)

Earlier this month, Harsha Walia, who was the executive director of the BCCLA, retweeted an article about the acts of arson targeting the churches, adding, “Burn it all down.”

After the tweet sparked a furore, Walia’s posts were no longer public as she placed her account in private mode.

Attacks on churches across Canada began after the discovery of the graves at or near the sites of residential schools that were run by the Catholic Church. It all started when the buried remains of 215 children were found in Kamloops, British Columbia, on May 28.

On June 23, 751 more such unmarked graves were found in Marieval in the province of Saskatchewan, and a week later, 182 were located in Cranbrook, also in British Columbia. The latest discovery was on July 12, as 160 were found at the site of the former Kuper Island Indian Industrial School.

The chilling discoveries sparked a rash of incidents of churches across the country being burned down, with Christian groups estimating the number at close to 50.

BCCLA board president David Fai said, “Words matter. Context matters… A tweet by our executive director on her personal account failed in that regard… We regret the misunderstanding that was caused by the tweet and apologise for the harm the words caused.”

He added that the BCCLA acknowledged the “anger, frustration, and sadness many people feel after the confirmation of over 1,000 unmarked graves of indigenous children at various residential school sites”.

He also pointed out that following the controversial tweet, the BCCLA “encountered a wave of hateful commentary, fuelled by the fact that our executive director is a racialised woman leader” and Walia and the staff at the organisation were “exposed to inexcusable racism and misogyny”.