Juno News - Manitoba MP stated the term “barnburner” is a “derogatory term against indigenous people＂

00:00:00.560 Manitoba MP Lea Ghazan stated that the term barn burner is a derogatory term used against

00:00:07.920 Indigenous people. Ghazan made the comment on a recent Facebook post but didn't provide

00:00:13.440 further explanation as to her sources. The term barn burner is commonly used to describe

00:00:19.200 something intensely exciting, highly exciting. There's no evidence to suggest that this term

00:00:25.840 refers to indigenous people in any kind of derogatory way. And while I think this term is

00:00:30.640 familiar to many people, it was unfamiliar to me, so I went and looked it up. Apparently,

00:00:35.520 according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, barn burner is an informal American English term

00:00:40.800 referring to, quote, very exciting, thrilling, or intense events, often used in context of sports,

00:00:47.280 elections or debates. And etymology websites say the term originates in the mid-1800s and is an

00:00:56.080 allusion to the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by burning his barns,

00:01:02.400 which were infested. I didn't find any evidence it was a derogatory term against Indigenous people.

00:01:08.660 Last year, Gazan is the same MP who introduced a bill in the House of Commons to jail people

00:01:13.980 for what she called, quote, residential school denialism. And the even more interesting thing

00:01:19.360 about the term barn burner is I found that historical sources say that the term was also

00:01:24.820 used by progressive political factions in the New York State Democratic Party. So it's a

00:01:32.440 political term. It's said that the group were willing to take extreme measures to address

00:01:37.560 corruption, even at the cost of damaging existing institutions, but didn't have anything to do with

00:01:43.760 Indigenous community at all. And if you're curious about this as I was, check out the link in the comments.

Juno News - April 01, 2026