Prime Minister reacts to verdict by saying ‘we have to do better’

The not guilty verdict in Gerald Stanley’s trial brought a range of reactions from across the country during the weekend.

Stanley, the Saskatchewan farmer charged with second-degree murder in the death of Cree man Colten Boushie on Aug. 9, 2016, was acquitted by a jury in Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday evening.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on Friday night that he had spoken with federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould (@puglaas) and that he couldn’t imagine “the grief and sorrow ” the Boushie family was feeling.

“Sending love to them from the US,” Trudeau wrote.

Wilson-Raybould replied that she also felt the pain of the Boushie family.

“My thoughts are with the family of Colton Boushie tonight,” she wrote. “I truly feel your pain and I hear all of your voices. As a country we can and must do better — I am committed to working everyday to ensure justice for all Canadians.”

On Saturday, Trudeau said at a news conference in Los Angeles that he understands Indigenous people in Canada are heartbroken and angry.

“Our hearts go out to Colten Boushie’s family. His mom Debbie, his friends and the entire community,” Trudeau said. “I’m not going to comment on the process that led us to this point today. But I am going to say we have come to this point as a country far too many times. Indigenous people across this country are angry. They’re heartbroken. And I know Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians alike know that we have to do better.”

But Conservative MP Lisa Raitt tweeted that she was “concerned” about the prime minister’s and justice minister’s decisions to weigh in.

“I don’t know if they are implying that the jury got the decision wrong. If they are, the individual jurors are prohibited from explaining themselves,” she wrote, adding that the Crown can appeal the decision.

Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer also questioned the politicians’ decision to get in- volved, saying that the independent judicial process must run its course without political intervention.

“It’s appropriate to show concern and support ... for the family of the victim, but I think it is important that we remember that politicians don’t decide these types of things,” Scheer told reporters in Halifax.

Scheer also said that the situa- tion warranted a discussion about challenges faced by young First Nations people.

At a rally on Parliament Hill on Saturday, Saskatchewan MP Georgina Jolibois said she was shocked by the court decision, which she described as disturbing.

“As Indigenous people, we give each other support when we’re hurting. And that’s why I’m here,” said Jolibois, who is a former mayor of La Loche, Sask.

Senator Murray Sinclair, a former Aboriginal judge in Manitoba and the chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, posted a poem on Facebook Saturday morning expressing his sorrow.

“I may grieve for some time./ But then again.../ we have been grieving a long time./ This is why/ we can’t “just get over it and move on”./ My country won’t let me,” Sinclair wrote.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page was created to support the Stanley family and their legal fees.

“Unfortunate events to follow led to, what was proved to be, a freak accident, which cost the life ofoneoftheyoungmen,”thepost read.

Fifteen hours after being posted, the page had raised $10,000 of its $25,000 goal.

As Indigenous people, we give each other support when we’re hurting. And that’s why I’m here.