Peter Henderson Bryce

Peter Henderson Bryce was a Canadian public health official whose work exposed the dire conditions in Indigenous residential schools, making him an early whistleblower against government-sanctioned neglect and systemic racism in Canada.

Professionally, Bryce trained as a physician and became an expert in public health and infectious disease control. In the early 1900s, he was appointed Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Indian Affairs. During his tenure in this position, he quickly observed appalling living conditions within residential schools. Bryce documented overcrowding, poor sanitation, and rampant tuberculosis. Tuberculosis was such a deadly issue that he made note that 24% of Indigenous children in residential schools died from tuberculosis and that the death rate was likely higher in other locations.

Given his findings, Bryce recommended immediate reforms in the residential school system, which included improved ventilation, better nutrition, and standardized medical care. Despite the evidence he provided, the government ignored his warnings, and Bryce was ultimately silenced. Government officials, particularly Duncan Campbell Scott, actively suppressed his findings, prioritizing assimilation policies over Indigenous health and well-being. Despite the forces against him, Bryce went forward in publicizing his reporting of the mistreatment of Indigenous groups. In The Story of a National Crime (1922), Bryce published the truth behind residential schools and accused authorities of deliberate neglect. Today, Bryce’s work remains crucial evidence of the Canadian government’s complicity in the suffering of Indigenous children.