FEBRUARY
In our Year in Review series, The Saskatoon Starphoenix looks back on the stories that affected residents the most.
STANLEY TRIAL VERDICT
After a trial that captivated and polarized the province, a jury found Saskatchewan farmer Gerald Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Colten Boushie.
Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man from Red Pheasant First Nation, was fatally shot on Aug. 9, 2016, on Stanley’s farm in the RM of Glenside. The seven-woman, five-man jury had been given the options of finding Stanley guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty of any crime.
As rallies were held across Canada following the acquittal, Premier Scott Moe said it was “now more important than ever” that Saskatchewan residents show patience, consideration and understanding for one another.
In a Facebook post, Saskatoon mayor Charlie Clark said he would stand with anyone prepared to help address what he called “the deep divisions in our society that have been revealed” by both the fatal shooting of Boushie and the trial of Stanley.
SHOOTER SENTENCING
People clapped in a La Loche courthouse as they learned that the young man who killed four people in a deadly school shooting in the community more than two years ago may face life in prison.
In delivering her decision to sentence the shooter as an adult, provincial court Judge Janet Mcivor said the man, now 20 years old, displayed an “incredible level of violence” when he shot two brothers in a home and then opened fire in the La Loche community school on Jan. 22, 2016. He was just weeks away from his 18th birthday at the time.
Because the shooter was 17 years old at the time of the offence, his name could not be published during legal proceedings. The judge decided to sentence him as an adult, but a publication ban remains on his identity because the sentencing process is not completed.
OLYMPICS
Saskatchewan had a strong contingent of athletes in the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Local athletes winning medals: Regina’s Mark Mcmorris (bronze medal — slopestyle), Saskatoon’s Emily Clark and Cote First Nation’s Brigette Lacquette (silver medal — women’s hockey), Linden Vey (bronze medal — men’s hockey). The coaches on the men’s hockey team included Climax’s Willie Desjardins (head coach, men’s hockey) and Saskatoon’s Dave King (assistant coach, men’s hockey).
Winning medals at the Paralympics: Prince Albert’s Brittany Hudak (para Nordic — bronze medal), Regina’s Kurt Oatway (para alpine — gold medal) and Moose Jaw’s Marie Wright (wheelchair curling — bronze medal)
OBAMA VISITS
Michelle Obama walked out onto the stage with an undeniable confidence and trademark warm smile, bringing a crowd of nearly 8,000 people to their feet at Sasktel Centre.
As Obama settled in and began to share her story, from her humble upbringing in Chicago by her hardworking parents to trying to find her place and her voice as the wife of a former president of the United States, she gave a lesson that through inspiration and empowerment, you can do whatever you set your mind to, no matter where you come from.
ADULT SENTENCE FOR TEEN
A Saskatoon courtroom erupted in applause after a provincial court judge ruled the woman who killed a stranger’s six-weekold baby boy when she was 16 years old will be sentenced as an adult for second-degree murder.
The woman, now 18 years old, received the maximum sentence applicable to a 16-year-old convicted of murder as an adult: life in prison with no parole eligibility for seven years.
The Crown proved that the teen’s lack of maturity, which would usually reduce her moral blameworthiness, was not attributed to her age but instead to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Judge Sanjeev Anand said in giving his decision in Saskatoon provincial court.
On July 3, 2016, she punched, stomped and strangled baby Nikosis Jace Cantre in a fit of anger. Court heard she had been drinking alcohol at the home of Nikosis’s extended family — who took her in for the night because she was homeless — and wandered into the baby’s room.
COOPER BECOMES CHIEF
Metis elder Nora Cummings remembers hiding from the police as a child, so the official swearing in of new Saskatoon police Chief Troy Cooper held special meaning for her.
She never thought she would see the day when a Metis person assumed that role, Cummings, an 80-year-old Metis Nation-saskatchewan senator, told a crowd packed into Saskatoon’s city council chamber to watch Cooper become the city’s new police chief.
Cooper spoke some Cree during the ceremony and joked about the quality of his skill with the language.