Chief Wally Burns is pictured at a ceremony in James Smith in the days following the 2022 stabbings. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

James Smith Cree Nation inquest

James Smith looking for justice system changes following second stabbing inquest

Mar 1, 2024 | 3:00 PM

The leadership of James Smith Cree Nation is happy with how RCMP handled the arrest of Myles Sanderson, the man who stabbed and killed 11 people and injured 17 more in a spree attack on the reserve east of Prince Albert in 2022.

However, they still would like to see some changes in the justice system, such as the jury’s recommendations following the inquest being made binding, which they are not right now.

“We saw that the RCMP did everything within their power to take Myles Sanderson into custody alive. Once arrested, the RCMP and medical responders used all the tools at their disposal to try to save his life. We commend them for their compassion and bravery,” said Chief Wally Burns.

Yesterday, the second coroner’s jury made four recommendations after hearing the details of Sanderson’s days following the stabbings and his capture and arrest by RCMP near Rosthern, and his subsequent overdose death.

Three of those recommendations were directed at the RCMP, including training all officers in the pit manoeuvre, a very high-risk method of stopping a fleeing vehicle.

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READ MORE: Officer recalls using pit manoeuvre to takedown Myles Sanderson

One of the officers who testified at the inquest in Saskatoon said he had doubts about universal training in the pit manoeuvre being a good idea; officers are already trained in high-risk driving techniques and the RCMP normally bans its members from using the manoeuvre, which can kill the suspect, officer and the public if it goes wrong.

In this case, Const. Heidi Marshall executed it perfectly, but she was only given the go-ahead because of Sanderson’s recent killings and the fact he was still a very active threat.

The other recommendations James Smith leadership would like to see followed through on are enhanced driver training in high-speed pursuits, and having officers trained on extraction techniques for offender takedowns.

The fourth recommendation was for the Saskatoon Police to create a team to capture and arrest people with outstanding warrants. Sanderson had an outstanding warrant for violating his release conditions but was fairly openly travelling between Saskatoon and James Smith selling cocaine in the days before he began his killing spree.

READ MORE: Sanderson was a ‘mission oriented’ killer, a psychologist said.

The provincial government has addressed some of the issues by creating more Warrant and Enforcement Suppression Teams (WEST).

Yesterday, one of those wanted people was arrested in Prince Albert after being sought by a WEST team. Brennan Sewap is now facing charges of breaching conditions but police have said he is also being investigated in connection with a shooting near the Cooke Municipal Golf Course late on Wednesday evening.

In the case of Sanderson, James Smith recognizes the limited scope of a coroner’s inquest and that it is a fact-finding mission. A statement released on today says they are satisfied that the process allowed the details of the manhunt to be made public, which helps family members get some closure.

James Smith will continue to push for a national inquiry into the massacre and lobby for reforms inside prisons and the parole system, says Burns.

It’s also working to create a self-administered police force on reserve.

“The system failed to help Myles Sanderson. We see his mental health, addictions, and the root causes of his anger were not corrected inside the system. I fear this could happen again without mandatory participation in culturally appropriate programming to rehabilitate criminals,” said Burns. “We are calling on the federal government to sit at the table with us to address the systemic issues that contributed to the deaths in James Smith Cree Nation.”

A security force created with federal funding received praise from Melfort RCMP members at the first of the two inquests into the stabbings, held in Melfort six weeks ago.

Police said the force provides valuable local knowledge and contacts in the community, which still sees a disproportionate amount of policing coming from the Melfort detachment, due to continued issues with crime and addictions.

Twenty-eight security guards parole the First Nation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and work closely with local RCMP to help reduce crime. Federal funding for the program ends March 31, 2024.

Sanderson was charged with 125 crimes as an adult but also had a record as a young offender. Of the 46 cases filed against him in provincial court, two were attempted murders, 18 were assaults and three were break and enters. Four of those assaults involved stabbings with weapons like knives, a fork, and broken beer bottles.

The First Nation would like to see prisoner reform taken more seriously in the correctional system and the elimination of drugs and gangs.

“We know offenders who enter the prison system are at risk of becoming more criminalized and put at odds with organized gangs. The system is failing our people by not caring to focus on rehabilitation,” said Peter Chapman Band Chief Robert Head.

The nation would like to be notified when offenders are released and create on-reserve aftercare and transitional housing for released prisoners.

Myles Sanderson was not the first to commit murders in the James Smith community.

Almost exactly one year before Sanderson went on his rampage, a shooting took the lives of a 37-year-old man and 28-year-old woman and sent a 44-year-old man to hospital with serious injuries. Shawn Moostoos, the 33-year-old who is charged with the killings, has yet to have his trial completed.

After those events, the Nation asked for an RCMP detachment on the reserve but did not get the response they hoped for.

The community has 1,850 people with the nearest detachment in Melfort, 45 kms away.

The current security force is not enough to manage the existing crime in the community. A trained and armed police force that can administer the criminal code is needed.

Leadership also wants to keep pushing to make sure recommendations from the first inquest are not forgotten.

Premier Scott Moe was in James Smith in the days following the mass killings to offer provincial support for the grieving community. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

Of the recommendations from the first inquest into the casualties of the mass stabbing, JSCN is placing ‘high priority’ on the Nation’s public safety objectives. They look to work with governments and institutions of the day on the following:

• All recommendations related to developing a public safety strategy with the RCMP, obtaining further funding for the security force, and continuing work to develop the JSCN police force (Jury recommendations to JSCN 4 and 5; Coroner recommendation 1).

• All recommendations regarding increasing communications between CSC, the RCMP, and JSCN regarding notifying JSCN when members are unlawfully at large (Coroner recommendations 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12).

• Recommendation to CSC to hire more elders in all federal correctional centres (Jury recommendation to CSC 2; Coroner’s recommendations 13, 14).

• Recommendation to CSC to increase program availability while reducing caseload on facilitators and elders involved (Jury recommendation to CSC 3).

• Recommendation to CSC to ensure offenders with a history of domestic violence (whether on current offence or in their history) be required to complete domestic violence programming while incarcerated (Coroner recommendation 11).

• Recommendation to JSCN to consider and evaluate programming it offers regarding addictions and substance abuse; victim services; adverse childhood experiences; domestic or intimate partner violence; traditional parenting; and programming for children (Jury recommendation to JSCN 1).

• Recommendation for CSC to develop programming to enable support persons to provide a healthy and successful environment for offenders to be released into and actively encouraging offenders and support persons to participate in such programming (Coroner recommendation 15).

• Recommendation to CSC that the assigned parole officer increase focus on designated offenders through contacts within the first month of the offender being deemed unlawfully at large (Jury recommendation to CSC 4).

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com