‘We must and can do better:’ Trudeau
Family of Indigenous man shot by acquitted farmer to meet PM Tuesday in Ottawa
OTTAWA — Canada must address systemic issues facing Indigenous people in the justice system, including over-representation in prisons and under-representation on juries, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday following the acquittal in the shooting death of Colten Boushie.
“We are committed to broadbased reform to address these issues. As a country, we must and can do better,” Trudeau said in the House of Commons Monday in response to a question from NDP MP Charlie Angus, who represents a large Indigenous population in northern Ontario.
“It is incumbent upon us to say that this Canada will not be a nation where the senseless killing of Indigenous youth is considered OK,” Angus said.
Protests erupted over the weekend after a Saskatchewan jury returned a not-guilty verdict in the death of Boushie, of the Red Pheasant First Nation, who was killed after he and four friends drove onto Gerald Stanley’s farm, about an hour west of Saskatoon. After firing two warning shots from a semi-automatic handgun, Stanley fired a third into the back of Boushie’s head. Stanley’s lawyers argued that he believed the gun was empty when he approached the vehicle and that the death was a “freak accident.”
On Sunday, members of Boushie’s family travelled to Ottawa, where they had private meetings with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott on Monday morning. They are to meet with Trudeau, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale on Tuesday.
“We have little to no faith in the justice system and we’re here to talk about that and think about ways to address that,” said Jade Tootoosis, Boushie’s cousin, after the Monday meetings. She wore a black T-shirt bearing the words “Strong, Resilient, Indigenous.”
“This is the beginning and I hope that something comes of it.”
Alvin Baptiste, Boushie’s uncle, held a fan of eagle feathers he carried during the trial. Boushie’s mother, Debbie Baptiste, wore a shirt that said “#JusticeforColten” and “#NativeLivesMatter,” and said she hopes all Canadians “could come together and realize that we’re all human beings.”
Tootoosis said the family feels “a bit more hopeful” after having spoken with the ministers. The family’s lawyer, Chris Murphy, said they briefly discussed possible reforms to the justice system during their meeting with Bennett, but they hope to speak about that in more detail during Tuesday’s meetings.
Several cabinet ministers have weighed in, suggesting something needs to change to improve Indigenous representation on juries. In the Commons on Monday, Wilson-Raybould said the government is looking at peremptory challenges, a tool Stanley’s defence used to reject potential Indigenous jurors, as part of an ongoing “broad-based review of the criminal justice system.”
Bennett said Indigenous people too often feel sidelined by the justice system.
“It’s time for us as the federal government to have a look at all of the suggestions that have been made in the past and also … to hear from the families who are asking for there to be change,” she told reporters.
The Conservatives didn’t address the case during question period Monday, but several MPs took to Twitter over the weekend to criticize the government for sounding off on the issue, after Trudeau tweeted Friday that he was “sending love” to the family and Wilson-Raybould tweeted that Canada “can and must do better.”
Manitoba Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette told the Winnipeg Free Press Sunday he “wasn’t really surprised” by the acquittal.
Conservative deputy leader Lisa Raitt wrote Saturday that she was “concerned about the PM and Minister of Justice’s interventions” in the case. Juries are required to keep their discussions confidential, even after the trial, she explained, and can’t explain themselves in the face of criticism from the prime minister.
“No one but the jurors should ever know what happened in the jury room. Even a PM has no ability to discuss this with them,” Raitt tweeted.
Conservative MP Rob Nicholson, a former justice minister in the Harper government, expressed sympathy for the family but added he respects “the independence of the judicial process.”
In Saskatchewan Monday, Premier Scott Moe told reporters he would not be commenting on the verdict, but said the province “will find a way forward.
“Sometimes it feels like we take two steps forward and one step back,” he said. “Where we are at today is, I think, a little bit of a reset, if you will, for us to re-engage not just with First Nation leaders, but with community leaders across the province.”
A GoFundMe page to raise money for Boushie’s family, launched in September, had raised more than $120,000 as of Monday afternoon.
A GoFundMe page launched Friday to help the Stanley family “recoup some of their lost time, property and vehicles that were damaged, harvest income, and sanity,” had raised more than $102,000 by Monday afternoon.