Victoria, BC

I think it's about context. When Dennis Reynolds in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia goes on an insane tirade calling his friend group, "IDIOTS! SAVAGES!" it's a clear indication that their actions are reckless to his perceived way of the world.

On the other hand, when Marina Sapozhnikov says it, she says it with things like,

that before Europeans came to North America, First Nations Peoples “didn’t have any sophisticated laws. They were savages. They fought each other all the time.”

When the Vancouver Island University student interviewing Sapozhnikov challenged the candidate, she replied: “Not 100 per cent savages, maybe 90 per cent savages.”

During the hour-long interview, a recording of which was given to Postmedia News late Thursday, Sapozhnikov spoke about her concerns with Indigenous history courses being taught in B.C. universities, her view that B.C.’s adoption of the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act renders every non-Indigenous British Columbian a “second-rate citizen,” and said that “90 per cent of Indigenous people use drugs.”

indicating that she believes that at least 90% of indigenous people were drug abusing savages. It's not even using it to depict specific actions as archaic, which would be in poor taste but at least more understandable (example: the Mayans sacrifice rituals being described as savage, indicating that a practice in the culture is vicious or merciless). Compared to calling 90% of indigenous people savage is very different - at no point in the article does she even try to claim that she was talking about specific practices. She literally says, "the didn't even have an alphabet".

She clarified that she didn’t mean that Indigenous Peoples in the present are “savages” but “hundreds of years ago.”

Later, Sapozhnikov, a former family doctor, said: “When I used to see Indigenous people as patients, I wasn’t able to talk to them. Because they don’t talk. As soon as I’d ask just, sometimes, very innocent questions, they just shut up. They don’t talk.”

Yeah, I wonder why they wouldn't want to talk to you, lady.