Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church (Chopaka, BC) destroyed by fire

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Chopaka, British Columbia, on Lower Similkameen Indian Band land, was destroyed by fire early on the morning of Saturday, 26 June 2021. According to the RCMP, the Keremeos detachment received a call at about 4:45 a.m. reporting the church ablaze; the fire spread to nearby brush but was quickly extinguished by BC Wildfire Service crews before it could expand. Lower Similkameen Indian Band Chief Keith Crow told CBC that he received a call around 4 a.m. and that the building had burned to the ground by the time he arrived about half an hour later.

The blaze was one of two that struck Catholic churches on Similkameen reserves within roughly an hour of each other that morning. Princeton RCMP had received a call at 3:52 a.m. about St. Ann's Catholic Church, near Hedley on Upper Similkameen Indian Band land, which was also destroyed. RCMP Sgt. Jason Bayda said police were treating both fires as suspicious and were examining any possible connection to earlier church fires in Penticton and Oliver on 21 June, with no arrests or charges at the time. Chief Crow, whose community included devout Catholic worshippers, said he was angry and described the loss as devastating, telling Global News, "Of course it's suspicious."

This was a domestic Canadian incident, not connected to any foreign or hybrid-warfare activity. It occurred during a wave of fires and vandalism at churches across Canada in the summer of 2021, coinciding with public reckoning over unmarked graves at former Indian residential school sites. While commentators frequently linked the fires to that anger, the RCMP classified the Chopaka and Hedley blazes as suspicious and investigated them as possible arson; reporting at the time recorded no arrests, charges, or confirmed motive for this specific incident. Indigenous leaders, including those of the affected bands, condemned the burnings.