{"id":870849,"date":"2025-09-06T00:13:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T05:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/06\/tory-byelection-candidate-sorry-for-residential-schools-comments\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T00:13:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T05:13:54","slug":"tory-byelection-candidate-sorry-for-residential-schools-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/06\/tory-byelection-candidate-sorry-for-residential-schools-comments\/","title":{"rendered":"Tory byelection candidate sorry for residential schools comments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy: Alex Lambert<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span>Posted: <strong><time datetime=\"2025-08-19 02:01:09\">2:01 AM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025<\/time><\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tLast Modified: <time datetime=\"2025-08-19 09:55:38\">9:55 AM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025<\/time> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/#history_popup\">Updates<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>BRANDON \u2014 A Progressive Conservative candidate in an upcoming Manitoba byelection has apologized for comments she made in the past about residential schools.<\/p>\n<p>Read this article for free:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>To continue reading, please subscribe:<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h4>Monthly Digital Subscription<\/h4>\n<p><strong>$1 per week for 24 weeks<\/strong>*<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com<\/li>\n<li>Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper<\/li>\n<li>Access News Break, our award-winning app<\/li>\n<li>Play interactive puzzles<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. 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Cancel any time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>BRANDON \u2014 A Progressive Conservative candidate in an upcoming Manitoba byelection has apologized for comments she made in the past about residential schools.<\/p>\n<p>Read unlimited articles for free today:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>BRANDON \u2014 A Progressive Conservative candidate in an upcoming Manitoba byelection has apologized for comments she made in the past about residential schools.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen Robbins, the Tory candidate for Spruce Woods, wrote on X in July 2021: \u201cI don\u2019t believe for once that any human ever started the residential school to abuse children. I agree it was what they thought at the time to help the Indigenous, which didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the 61-year-old said she never learned about residential schools while she was in school.<\/p>\n<figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/3507504_web1_250813debate03TS.jpg?w=1000\" data-pswp-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/3507504_web1_250813debate03TS.jpg?w=320 320w, https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/3507504_web1_250813debate03TS.jpg?w=600 600w, https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/3507504_web1_250813debate03TS.jpg?w=1920 1920w\" data-pswp-width=\"2048\" data-pswp-height=\"1365\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/3507504_web1_250813debate03TS.jpg?w=1000\" alt=\"Colleen Robbins of the PC Party of Manitoba speaks during the Souris &#038; Glenwood Chamber of Commerce byelection debate with Ray Berthelette of the NDP and Stephen Reid of the Manitoba Liberal Party at the Avalon Theatre in Souris on Wednesday evening. (Tim Smith\/The Brandon Sun)\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><figcaption>Colleen Robbins of the PC Party of Manitoba speaks during the Souris &#038; Glenwood Chamber of Commerce byelection debate with Ray Berthelette of the NDP and Stephen Reid of the Manitoba Liberal Party at the Avalon Theatre in Souris on Wednesday evening. (Tim Smith\/The Brandon Sun)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI apologize for my ignorance,\u201d she said in an interview with the <em>Brandon Sun<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believed \u2014 honestly at the time \u2014 that they were just like a regular school that people moved to, to be educated,\u201d she said. \u201cBut since the truth and reconciliation has come to light, and all of this, we\u2019re all learning and reading about it more and more. I just didn\u2019t think that they started it out to be like that. But in fact, residential schools were to take the culture out of them, and that is just so wrong in every which way. And I apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kelly Saunders, a political science professor at Brandon University, said the optics of this are bad for the PCs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think this is good for the party, because it\u2019s only going to remind Manitobans of the fact that the party has had a troubled record when it comes to Indigenous issues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, the PC party apologized for its stance during the 2023 election to not fund the search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of Indigenous women murdered by a serial killer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose issues have been a bit of an albatross around the party\u2019s neck,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cThis statement made by a candidate, even given the fact that it was made a few years ago, this is not the kind of bad press that the party is looking for these days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Robbins also defended comments she made earlier this year regarding U.S. President Donald Trump, when he imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, citing drugs going into the U.S. from both countries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am so sorry you have to do this to us \u2026 Thought our countries were friends,\u201d she commented in early February.<\/p>\n<p>Phrasing it that way was both sarcastic and a bad choice of words, she clarified on Monday, especially when readers don\u2019t know who she is as a person.<\/p>\n<p>Robbins said she was mad at the American president in that comment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFriends don\u2019t put tariffs on or hurt each other,\u201d she said, calling herself a patriotic Canadian. \u201cAnd I was being sarcastic there. That was not me apologizing for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said that comment, along with others regarding U.S. politics, are being taken out of context by the people reposting them.<\/p>\n<p>Robbins said those people are \u201cfear mongering\u201d and running a \u201csmear campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Reid, the Liberal candidate for Spruce Woods called Robbins\u2019 comments \u201cterrible\u201d and hopes she learns from the experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen someone shows you who they are, listen,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that people need to keep in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Sun<\/em> reached out to NDP candidate Ray Berthelette, but a campaign manager said he was door-knocking and wasn\u2019t available for an interview.<\/p>\n<p>The byelection is set for Aug. 26.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brandon Sun<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/javascript:window.print();\" title=\"Print Tory byelection candidate sorry for residential schools comments\"><i><\/i> Print<\/a>\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"mailto:?subject=Tory byelection candidate sorry for residential schools comments - via the Winnipeg Free Press&#038;body=https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/breakingnews\/2025\/08\/19\/tory-byelection-candidate-sorry-for-residential-schools-comments\" title=\"Share by Email\" target=\"_blank\"><i><\/i> Email<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t<a title=\"Bookmark\" href=\"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/#\"><span><i><\/i><i><\/i><\/span> Read Later<\/a>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> Alex Lambert<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/local\/2025\/08\/19\/tory-byelection-candidate-sorry-for-residential-schools-comments\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Alex Lambert Posted: 2:01 AM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025 Last Modified: 9:55 AM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025 | Updates BRANDON \u2014 A Progressive Conservative candidate in an upcoming Manitoba byelection has apologized for comments she made in the past about residential schools. Read this article for free: To continue reading, please subscribe:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":870850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126635,1549],"tags":[126634,6274],"class_list":{"0":"post-870849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-byelection","8":"category-candidate","9":"tag-byelection","10":"tag-candidate"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}