St. Gregory Mission Church (Osoyoos Indian Band) destroyed by fire

In the early hours of 21 June 2021, St. Gregory Mission Church on Osoyoos Indian Band land in British Columbia's South Okanagan was destroyed by fire. Oliver RCMP and the Oliver Fire Department were called to the blaze on Nk'Mip Road at around 3 a.m. By the time crews arrived the wooden church, built in 1910, had been reduced to burning rubble. Between 15 and 25 firefighters responded but could not save the structure. The fire came roughly one to two hours after Sacred Heart Church on neighbouring Penticton Indian Band land, reported at around 1 a.m. on Green Mountain Road, was also destroyed.

RCMP deemed both fires suspicious in a joint statement. Oliver Fire Chief Bob Graham said there was indication of an accelerant and that arson was suspected given the time, location and circumstances. Penticton South Okanagan RCMP Sgt. Jason Bayda said investigators would examine all possible motives while remaining sensitive to recent events, declining to speculate on motivation; police later reviewed video of a dark-coloured truck. The fires occurred on National Indigenous Peoples Day, weeks after the reported detection of unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie, speaking to Global News, called it a criminal act and arson, and told CBC News he was upset by the destruction.

This is a domestic Canadian incident. The St. Gregory's fire was one of several church fires on or near First Nations land in British Columbia during the summer of 2021, occurring amid the national reckoning over residential schools and reported unmarked graves. RCMP treated the fire as suspicious and consistent with arson, citing indications of an accelerant, but no one has been charged and no motive has been established by authorities. Local leadership, including Chief Clarence Louie, condemned the act. There is no evidence of foreign involvement; reporting frames the event entirely within a domestic context.