Manitoba justice minister apologizes for appointment of former MLA who downplays residential school harm

Manitoba's justice minister has apologized for a patronage appointment of a former Progressive Conservative MLA who has written articles downplaying the harms of residential schools. 

Jim McCrae, a former Manitoba justice minister, was appointed earlier this month by current Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen to the masters appointment committee, which helps select judicial officers for the Court of King's Bench.

Goertzen said he did not know about McCrae's views but admitted there was a deficiency in the vetting process. 

Normally, candidates would be vetted on their qualifications and appropriateness, but McCrae had not been re-vetted after finishing up a six-year term on the province's social service board. 

"There is a deficiency in the vetting process because I think people who've been on boards for a long time should be re-vetted," he said. 

"As we've seen in the world, people start to write opinions about things over time, and I do fully apologize."

McCrae's three-year term on the masters appointment committee took effect May 10, but he stepped down after criticism was raised by some First Nations leaders in a Winnipeg Free Press story and in the legislature last Thursday by Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont.

McCrae's appointment was brought up in the legislature again Monday by NDP MLA Eric Redhead, who said it was "hard to believe" no one in the Manitoba PC caucus knew about McCrae's views. 

Following question period, Redhead said he accepted Goertzen's apology but said Goertzen also owed an apology to Indigenous leaders and the Indigenous community at large. 

"I hope that moving forward these issues don't arise again. I hope he's learned from this. Apologies are one thing action is another."

McCrae was co-author of a March 2022 article in the Dorchester Review that suggested the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation "promotes a darker view of Canadian history than the facts justify" and inflates the number of people who died at residential schools.

In a Western Standard article published in December 2022, McCrae also wrote that the evidence on Indian residential schools "does not support the overall gruesome narrative put forward around the world for several years."

His most recent article was published in March 2023 in the Western Standard, in which he questioned the truth behind stories of residential schools. 

In an email to CBC News on Thursday, McCrae said he was surprised by concerns about his appointment, adding that he felt the six years he'd spent as chair of the social services appeal board made him comfortable and qualified in taking on the master committee role.

Even so, he said he felt the best course of action was to resign.