The act of setting fire to houses of worship carries profound implications for our culture, our politics, and for the state of religious liberty in Canada; it also has the potential to seriously undermine Indigenous reconciliation.
This report undertakes the first empirical investigation of the spike in arson attacks on religious institutions in Canada since 2021. Few Canadians understood the full scope and scale of these attacks – until now.
Key findings include:
• Arson at religious institutions in Canada more than doubled compared to the baseline in 2021 and has not significantly declined since then.
• Statistical analysis indicates that the increase in arson is not religiously motivated. Instead, it is likely a response to the announcements, starting in 2021, of potential unmarked burials at former residential schools.
• Law enforcement’s inability to effectively investigate and prosecute arsonists, coupled with society’s general apathy towards condemning their actions, poses a significant threat to Indigenous reconciliation efforts in Canada.
Two broad motivating factors have been suggested to explain this increase in arsons. The first of these relates to a series of announcements regarding potential unmarked burials at some former residential schools (the network of boarding schools for Indigenous children instituted by the Canadian state and mostly administered for over a century by Christian institutions) starting in May 2021. The second possibility is that the arsons reflect anti-Christian or anti-religious sentiment growing in the country.
As of the time of writing, no groups or individuals have claimed responsibility with respect to any organized arson campaign, and less than 4 per cent of the arson incidents over the 2021–23 period have resulted in charges. So, the identities and motivations of the arsonists responsible for more than 96 per cent of arsons remain unknown.
Based on a careful analysis of the data, the report demonstrates that the increase in arson is likely a response to the announcements of potential unmarked burials at former residential schools.
Canada is not powerless to stop the arsonists. The apparent lack of a comprehensive policy response to date could impact support for reconciliation, possibly due to the perception that these crimes are not being addressed with the seriousness they deserve because of their association with the harms of the residential schools.
Canadian policy-makers should consider the coordinated policy responses that effectively addressed a series of church arsons in the United States in the 1990s. Some of the elements of those policies should be adapted and included in a uniquely Canadian policy response to arsons at religious institutions here, incorporating long-needed improvements to Indigenous police and fire protection services, among other elements. A uniquely Canadian approach should include the following:
• Create a national or regional integrated police/fire investigations unit focused specifically on arson at religious institutions.
• Improve Indigenous police and fire protection services, including to ensure full Indigenous participation in the integrated unit.
• Complete the long-running project of building and maintaining a comprehensive and timely national and on-reserve database of fire statistics.
Law enforcement officials need to thoroughly investigate and prosecute the offenders, and all Canadians must condemn the attacks – not least because they threaten the path to reconciliation and full Indigenous equality.