By Canadian Press

Report into shooting of Indigenous man heightens desire for change in RCMP: minister

Mar 24, 2021 | 12:01 PM

REGINA — Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says Canadians are impatient to see action from the RCMP after a report that said officers in Saskatchewan racially discriminated against the mother of a young Cree man who was shot and killed. 

Miller says he’s been briefed on the findings from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP that investigated the handling of Colten Boushie’s death. 

The 22-year-old was shot and killed in August 2016 on a farm owned by Gerald Stanley after the SUV he was riding in drove onto the property near Biggar, Sask.

A jury acquitted Stanley of second-degree murder but. before the trial, Boushie’s family and First Nations leaders voiced concerns about the way his mother was treated by Mounties. 

The complaints commission said officers questioned Debbie Baptiste on her sobriety after telling her that her son had died and told her to “get it together” after she collapsed in grief. 

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Miller says the report confirms what he already had heard from the family.

“What I’ve heard is disturbing,” he told a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday. 

“She should never have been put in that position. We need to let her words speak for themselves,” Miller said of Baptiste’s remarks after the report’s release.

Baptiste and her lawyer, saying the way she was treated was unacceptable and an example of systemic racism, called for changes within the RCMP. 

Miller said the independent agency’s findings demonstrate the importance of civilian oversight and noted that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki accepted most of its conclusions. 

“At this juncture, everyone and Canadians are impatient to see action.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2021.

The Canadian Press