Kids’ school workbook recalled over Indigenous history section

An Ontario publishing company is recalling a children’s educational workbook that critics say misinforms kids about injustices faced by First Nations when European settlers arrived in Canada.

The book — “Complete Canadian Curriculum Grade 3” — has a section called Moving Out that says First Nations peoples agreed to move to different areas to make room for European settlers to move in.

Critics say the text glosses over the history of the country’s Indigenous population, pointing out that First Nations peoples were forced off their land.

The Popular Book Company Canada, based in Richmond Hill, had initially promised the book would be revised in later editions, but said in a statement issued Tuesday that it would be recalling the current edition immediately.

“We know that our Complete Canadian Curriculum Grade 3 does not provide an accurate depiction of the interaction between Canada’s First Nations and European settlers,” it said. “While we cannot undo what has already been published, we are committed to making things better for future editions.”

But some parents said the mistake shouldn’t have been made in the first place.

Trish Frempong of Toronto said she was planning on purchasing the book for her sevenyear-old daughter before she saw an image of the book’s contentious section on social media. She says she went to a nearby bookstore to check the book out for herself and decided against purchasing it.

She said the contentious section shouldn’t have been published, because it “perpetuates one particular narrative, that only serves one group of people, and it is anything but the truth.”

Jennifer Dockstader, executive director at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, said the language used in the book — particularly a section that reportedly says Indigenous people would want to get away from settlers’ “hustle and bustle” — perpetuates negative stereotypes about First Nations peoples.

It suggests Indigenous people are simple-minded, that they didn’t have robust societies with hustle and bustle of their own, and that they wanted to be isolated — none of which is true, Dockstader said.

“If it’s taught to the non-Indigenous community, then they think that we actually wanted to be on reserves.”