Not guilty verdict sparks tears, anger, frustration

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This article was published 21/02/2018 (2254 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Indigenous leaders carried the emotional burden of their people as they reacted to Raymond Cormier’s acquittal Thursday, saying the entire country is responsible for what happened to the teenager.

Minutes earlier, a jury had found Cormier not guilty of second-degree murder in the August 2014 death of the 15-year-old.

“Canadian society failed Tina Fontaine. Everybody, right now, across this country, should be ashamed of themselves for the injustice that just occurred here. Where is reconciliation really happening right now in this country when it comes to First Nations and Indigenous people?” asked Kevin Hart, a regional chief with the Assembly of First Nations.

“We are continually marginalized. We live in Third World conditions. You set us up for failure right from the start and you take our children away… This murder is a clear example of how the (Child and Family Services) system, the Winnipeg police, and society in general has let us down again.”

Hart stood alongside Arlen Dumas, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs; Sheila North, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak; Jerry Daniels, grand chief of the Southern Chiefs Organization; and Derrick Henderson, chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation, where Tina was from.

They denounced society’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples and the failure of the social safety net to prevent Tina’s death. Her 72-pound body, which was wrapped in a duvet cover, was pulled from the Red River.

While holding back tears, North called for peace after the verdict, which came on the heels of national protests sparked by the acquittal of Saskatchewan farmer Gerald Stanley in the 2016 death of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man.

“This is a difficult and tremendously sad day for our people. This is not the outcome anyone wanted. The system, everything that was involved in Tina’s life, failed her. We all failed her. We, as a nation, need to do better for our young people,” North said.

“This is not the Canada I want to be a part of. All of us should be ashamed of what happened to her and Colten Boushie and to others.”

She said Thelma Favel, the great-aunt who raised Tina, had asked that there be no violence following the verdict.

“I want to pass on a message from Thelma that we have to maintain the peace. She does not want to see any more violence against anyone. She does not want to see any retaliation. Because that is not what our people are about. She wants peace. She wants healing. She wants justice.”

Henderson, the chief of Sagkeeng First Nation, was solemn.

“Justice was not served here today. Tina was loved by everybody. There’s not much I can say. An injustice was done to our people again. The system, the system has failed us,” he said.

Daniels, had passion and anger in his voice as he spoke, at times highlighting the way Canadian society discriminates against Indigenous people, at times calling upon all Canadians to come together and find solutions.

“We know that the system is discriminating against us time and time again from the moment of contact. At every single level in which contact with Indigenous people happens we are being treated (with discrimination),” Daniels said.

“When are we going to take responsibility? When are the people of this country going to take responsibility and stand up and stop allowing it? Every single member of this country and this province is responsible for what’s happening here today.”

Before the Indigenous leaders spoke, Valentina Duck, Tina’s mother, was the first to leave the court building.

Sobbing and swearing loudly, she quickly walked past the media, asking if they were happy with the outcome. Meanwhile, a few demonstrators gathered nearby, one waving a red First Nations flag and the other beating a drum.

After Duck disappeared down the street, an Indigenous man standing at the side of the building smoking walked up to the media and asked, “What did everyone expect? I’m disgusted with this country and justice system.”

Not long after Duck stormed out of the courthouse, Sue Caribou, an advocate for the Missing Murdered and Indigenous Women and Girls movement, came outside. A mixture of anger and pain was palpable in her voice as she shouted.

“Not once do our people ever get justice. I have 10 murdered and two missing and to this f—king day we don’t have justice!” she said, nearly breaking down in tears.

Brian Bowman, the first Métis mayor in Winnipeg, issued a statement saying there was no doubt that “we all failed Tina.”

“No one can be blind to the racial tensions in our country. The work of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is shedding light onto a dark past of violence and a history of racism in Canada.”

The discovery of Tina’s body was, in part, a catalyst for the inquiry.

There will be a walk to honour Tina, starting at 10:30 this morning outside the courthouse, making its way to The Forks via York Avenue.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @rk_thorpe