OTTAWA, ON (April 24, 2025):
A new Macdonald-Laurier Institute report reveals a grim pattern of arson against churches, and a deafening silence in response.
Since the 2021 Kamloops announcement of potential unmarked burials at a former residential school, arson targeting houses of worship has doubled and the attacks show no sign of subsiding. Despite this disturbing trend, more than 96 per cent of these crimes remain unsolved. Law enforcement has yet to step up. Society has yet to speak up.
In Scorched Earth: A quantitative analysis of arson against Canadian religious institutions and its threat to reconciliation, economist Edgardo Sepulveda demonstrates that this is not a random crime wave – it is a measurable, predictable reaction to the unverified claims made since the 2021 announcement of potential unmarked burials, and Canada is dangerously unprepared.
“This isn’t just a public safety issue. It’s a reconciliation issue,” says Sepulveda. “The numbers are clear, but the policy response is not.”
The report calls for swift and coordinated action. Canada should take lessons from the US response to church burnings in the 1990s, which included the creation of a national arson task force and robust federal support. Sepulveda argues that Canada must do the same, beginning with a national investigative unit integrating Indigenous and non-Indigenous agencies.
Sepulveda also recommends fixing Canada’s broken fire data system and investing in Indigenous policing and fire protection – systems that have been neglected for far too long.
As the author warns, “The symbolism of these attacks is many times greater than their physical destruction.” If left unchecked, this wave of arson could erode the fragile trust underpinning reconciliation.
The findings are a wake-up call. Arson against places of worship cannot be treated as a background issue. Canadians deserve better and so do their institutions of faith.
To learn more, read the full paper here:
For further information, media are invited to contact:
Dagny Pawlak-Loerchner
Senior Communications Officer
613-482-8327 x113
dagny.pawlak-loerchner@macdonaldlaurier.ca
