Debbie Baptiste shown holding a photo of her son Colten Boushie outside the courthouse in Battleford during the trial in 2018. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

5th anniversary

Family gathers for fifth anniversary of Colten Boushie’s death, renews calls for public inquiry

Aug 9, 2021 | 5:06 PM

The family of Colten Boushie and supporters came together in mourning Monday on the fifth anniversary of the young Red Pheasant Cree Nation member’s death. They again called for a public inquiry.

Boushie was fatally shot on Aug. 9, 2016 on a farmyard near Biggar. Gerald Stanley was acquitted in the case after a jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder in February of 2018, following a two-week trial at Queen’s Bench Court in Battleford.

Boushie’s mother Debbie Baptiste, lawyer Eleanore Sunchild, lawyer Chris Murphy, Saskatchewan Treaty Commissioner Mary Culbertson and Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Second Vice Chief David Pratt participated in a press conference in Saskatoon Monday afternoon to mark the anniversary of Boushie’s death.

Sunchild, family spokesperson and a Battlefords lawyer, says the family plans to keep advocating for Indigenous families in the justice system.

“We’re going to have a private gathering with the family, and share memories of Colten, and offer support and love to Debbie and the rest of the family,” she said.

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“This year we are going to continue on with advocacy,” she added. “Advocacy was paused during COVID.”

The Civilian Review Complaints Commission (CRCC) completed an independent probe of the RCMP’s conduct during the investigation of Boushie’s shooting death that was released in March 2021. The report indicated RCMP officers racially discriminated against Boushie’s mother, among its findings.

Sunchild said the findings of the CRCC are a good step forward, but it is “one small piece of the entire carriage of justice.”

Sunchild said the family wants a full inquiry “into the systemic racism that is at the heart of this matter.”

“Systemic racism affects Indigenous people across Canada,” she said. “This case represents the very worst in my opinion of what can go wrong.”

In a media release later on Monday the FSIN said the death of Boushie and the subsequent acquittal of Stanley, “serves as an example of systemic discrimination in the Canadian Criminal Justice System; from the flawed investigation and jury selection process to the Crown’s extraordinary decision not to appeal the verdict.”

Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow