I am a Mi’kmaq lawyer, and I despair over Colten Boushie

Document Type

Editorial

Publication Date

3-18-2018

Keywords

Death of Colten Boushie, Aboriginal law and policy, Criminal Law and Indigenous People

Abstract

My law school recently organized a panel on Gerald Stanley’s acquittal in the death of Colten Boushie. Timing was such that the talk occurred two days after the Saskatchewan Crown announced it would not be seeking an appeal of the verdict. I was reluctant to participate on the panel, not because I wasn’t interested in the subject, but because the case affects me in a deeply emotional way that most other topics do not (and I frequently speak on complex and difficult Aboriginal law and policy topics). I decided the only way I could talk about this was by getting personal and emotional, even though that is usually not my style. In the end, I am glad that I did. Many in attendance told me my remarks helped them to appreciate this case in a new way. So I thought I would seek to publish my remarks, edited slightly, in the hopes it may do the same for others.

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