Letter to the Editor: Colten Boushie/Gerald Stanley trial proves our justice system isn’t working
Originally published on February 17, 2018 in the Saturday Star.
“The acquittal of Gerald Stanley in the shooting death of Colten Boushie is a stark reminder of how much work still needs to be done to address systemic and systematic racism in Canada,” writes Ed Bianchi of Ottawa.
Anger over Colten Boushie hold important lessons for Canada, Editorial, Feb. 12
The acquittal of Gerald Stanley in the shooting death of Colten Boushie from the Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan is a stark reminder of how much work still needs to be done to address systemic and systematic racism in Canada.
Key to this process is education, a position held by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).
Although federal action to restrict peremptory challenges in jury selection and other measures to make the legal system fair to Indigenous peoples must be prioritized, so too must provincial and territorial efforts to educate all students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 on the treaties, residential schools and the positive historical and contemporary contributions of Indigenous peoples to Canada.
Without this education, called for by the TRC, justice for Indigenous peoples, both within the justice system and in society as a whole, will not be possible.
Ed Bianchi, program manager, Kairos Canada, Ottawa
