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In response to the Tumbler Ridge tragedy on Feb. 10, 2026, and the disinformation surrounding the events, Commissioner Kasari Govender issued the following statement:

What happened in Tumbler Ridge on February 10 is devastating beyond words. To those mourning their loved ones, to the grieving community, to the students and staff at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School navigating through trauma, to the first responders and care providers who have had to put aside their own losses in service of the community, our hearts are with you.

As a parent sending my child off to school yesterday after reading the horrifying news, I could only imagine the sense of injustice and powerlessness that families and loved ones must be feeling in Tumbler Ridge. We should be able to trust that our schools are safe places for our children, and that their rights to education and safety would be protected there. In this time of crisis, many of us are finding strength in our shared humanity, as people in B.C. lean into one another. By contrast, I am disappointed by the anti-trans disinformation and the hateful narratives that are being spread. Mis and disinformation amplify hateful beliefs, which can result in discrimination and violence towards trans people who already face extremely high levels of discrimination and harassment. 

Leaders have a duty to uphold the facts and the rights of everyone involved. Using this horrific incident to conflate trans identities with violent tendencies is incorrect, irresponsible and frankly dangerous. When we look at the data, it tells us a different story than what some spreading disinformation want you to see right now. It tells us that trans people are substantially more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators of violent crimes, four times more likely than cisgender people.1 And of people who commit mass shootings, trans people make up far less than one per cent in the U.S.2

Mis and disinformation damage our democracy. Without shared facts, we have no shared sense of truth on which to base our political debate and decisions. We can’t solve the problems of our time without some shared methodology about how to understand those problems. In a democracy, we should be able to debate policy approaches to shared concerns, but that is impossible if we are having entirely different conversations based on false information.

We all want to be safe and for our children to grow up and thrive in safe communities. Horrific incidents like this make us all search for answers; how do we prevent this from happening again? If we are to come up with answers that actually make us safer, we must uncover and rely on real facts, not disinformation propagated for a political agenda. This is not a time to let ideology run rampant; this is a time to find strength in unity and answers in hard facts.

My Office and I stand with the community of Tumbler Ridge, the trans and LGBTQ2SAI+ communities and allies who refuse to let hate divide us, especially in times of tragedy. I call on all leaders in this province and country to reject mis and disinformation and act from a place of principle, truth and respect for the rights of those who are vulnerable in this moment.

  1. Andrew R. Flores, Ph.D., Ilan Meyer, Ph.D., and Lynn L. Langton, Ph.D., and Jody L. Herman, Ph.D, “Gender Identity Disparities in Criminal Victimization: National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017–2018,” American Journal of Public Health 111, no. 4 (April 1, 2021): pp. 726-729, https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306099.
  2. “Key Findings,” Violence Prevention Project, accessed February 2026, https://www.theviolenceproject.org/key-findings/; I am not aware of any data on the gender identity of mass shooters in Canada, especially given the far smaller number of incidents.

Resources

If you or someone you know needs support during this time, crisis and community supports are available: https://www.crisislines.bc.ca/our-members

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For more information or to request an additional interview with Commissioner Kasari Govender after the press conference, please contact [email protected] or 604-306-7369.

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About BCOHRC 

BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner exists to address the root causes of inequality, discrimination and injustice in B.C. by shifting laws, policies, practices and cultures. We do this work through education, research, advocacy, inquiry and monitoring. Learn more at: bchumanrights.ca  

About the Commissioner 

Kasari Govender began her work as B.C.’s first independent human rights commissioner in September 2019.  As an independent officer of the Legislature, Commissioner Govender is uniquely positioned to ensure human rights in B.C. are protected, respected and advanced on a systemic level. In her first five-year term, her work through BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner included a public inquiry into experiences of hate in the pandemic, a report on systemic discrimination in policing, community embedded research about a range of human rights issues experienced by British Columbians, public awareness campaigns about ableism and racism and guidance to government that, among other things, informed the creation of both the Anti-Racism Data Act and the Anti-Racism Act. Commissioner Govender was reappointed for a second term beginning in September 2024. 

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