Justice must be fair, also appear to be so

The recent trial and acquittal of Gerald Stanley in the shooting death of Colten Boushie is a tragedy. The death of a young man, the trial of an individual, and the revelation that the justice system has again failed First Nations is problematic.

None of this is new information. The federal government must share in this failure as it has dragged its feet for years by not sufficiently responding to Frank Iacobacci’s report, First Nations Representation on Ontario Juries (2015), and its 17 recommendations. These recommendations, if applied across the nation, would have guaranteed the Boushie family one thing: that justice was not only fair but was seen to be fair, regardless of the outcome.

In this case, fairness could have only been sufficiently achieved by implementing all or part of the recommendations related to a “jury by one’s peers” whenever a First Nation’s person is either the victim or the alleged perpetrator.

This failure includes the entire legal community. It was not necessarily the wrong decision — it was the wrong process. The provincial Attorney’s General should take responsibility for immediate change. And by extension, the courts missed an opportunity to demonstrate fairness and access to justice and real reconciliation. W.E. White, LL.M, (retired) Ministry of the Attorney General mediator, Madoc