Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
Top News - October - 2001
The local crowd celebrates as the Prince Albert Grand Council Bantam Boys stride to gold in the 4X100 relay at the 2001 Saskatchewan First Nations Summer Games held in La Ronge, Sask. from Aug. 12 to 16."Starlight tour" brings officers' convictions
Shots fired at Burnt Church, police inaction accused
Sculpture unveiled in memory of Leo LaChanceMedia turns a blind eye- Publisher's Statement
To our American neighbors- Editorial
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"Starlight tour" brings officers' convictions
Paul Barnsley,
Windspeaker Staff Writer,
SaskatoonOn Sept. 20, an all-white jury of seven men and five women decided that veteran Saskatoon Police Service constables Dan Hatchen and Ken Munson committed a criminal offence on Jan. 28, 2000.
The two veteran officers were charged with assault and forcible confinement. The jury rendered convictions on only the latter charge.
The officers admitted they took Darrell Night, a Native man, to the outskirts of town on a cold Prairie winter night and kicked him out of their cruiser, leaving him to walk home in minus 25 degree Celsius conditions. Night filed a formal complaint after he heard that two other Native men had been found frozen to death in the same area where he was dropped off.
Both officers were promptly fired by interim police chief Jim Mathews just hours after the guilty verdict. Mathews, a retired deputy chief with the Calgary police service, was asked to serve as interim Saskatoon chief while the police services board looks for a replacement for the man who was chief at the time of the offence. Former chief Dave Scott was terminated by the board last July.
The interim chief, in announcing his decision to fire the officers, said the matter had now been dealt with.
"We are now concluding a very unsettling phase in the history of the Saskatoon Police Service. The isolated actions of two officers have directly affected the reputation of all of our members, sullying those men and women who regularly demonstrate the highest standards of ethics, integrity and commitment to the community," he said. "The admissions of constables Munson and Hatchen in Queens Bench Court, surrounding their actions in January of 2000 involving Darrell Night, has shaken the public's confidence in the Saskatoon Police Service."
He said he would have fired the officers even if they'd been acquitted of all charges.
"I am of the opinion that these two members are unsuitable to perform the duties of a police officer, and subject to Section 60 of the Saskatchewan Police Act, 1990, I have terminated their employment with the Saskatoon Police Service effective immediately," he said. "This is an important step to bring closure to this incident. It demonstrates to the public that this type of isolated act will not be tolerated in our community or by your police service and will help us to restore public confidence in the Saskatoon Police Service. It is my belief that this community recognizes that the incident with Mr. Night was an anomaly, the irresponsible actions of two officers whose lack of judgment is not typical of our members, or our service."
But Native leaders in the community will not be so quick to put this incident behind them. Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Vice-chief Lawrence Joseph commended Night for having "the courage to come forward."
Joseph, who holds the justice portfolio, said the verdict revealed basic flaws in the justice system that must be examined and corrected.
"The police denied that these drop-offs were happening in Saskatoon and in the province, but the Crown prosecutor and 12 citizens of this city have proven that they do," he said. "These things have been happening for years. The not guilty verdict on the assault notwithstanding, this trial has clearly demonstrated that fundamental human rights are being violated in this city."
Joseph joined Night and his lawyer Donald Worme in calling for a full public inquiry and "substantive changes to the current system in this province."
"Every citizen of Saskatoon, of Saskatchewan, and of the world at large should be concerned about the abuses revealed during the course of this trial," the vice-chief said, "and I invite those who would be responsible for addressing those concerns to allow First Nations people to assist them in constructing a justice system, in this province at least, that will 'protect and serve' the basic human rights of all people in Saskatchewan."
Night has consistently demanded more answers than a criminal trial is geared to provide.
"I did nothing to deserve the nightmares I've had since that night and the ongoing anxiety and apprehension I feel now whenever I see a police car," he said in a statement e-mailed to this publication. "The criminal justice system cannot deliver justice in this case and cannot protect the human rights of people in my position. The convictions of these two officers is a start, but nobody has been able to tell me why this happened or even how it could happen in our country-a country that says it values human rights of all citizens."
"It has been our position throughout that only a full-scale public inquiry, complete with all the powers and authority of such a process, can effectively respond to the obvious and serious issues that this case presents and the questions that linger," Worme said. "Why did this dark event occur? How did this dark stain come to bear on our city's character? Only through such public inquiry can individual citizens take any comfort or feel assured that their human rights are important and will be respected by those to whom we have entrusted significant powers to protect and serve our community."
Two days after the trial concluded, Saskatchewan Justice Minister Chris Axworthy announced an inquiry will begin in October that will look into how the justice system treats Aboriginal people.
The FSIN first called for a wide-ranging inquiry into all aspects of the justice system and how it deals with Aboriginal people shortly after Night filed his complaint. Joseph and his staff have been meeting with Justice officials since then, attempting the work out an acceptable way to conduct the inquiry.
Munson and Hatchen will be sentenced Oct. 30.
Shots fired at Burnt Church, police inaction accused
Paul Barnsley,
Windspeaker Staff Writer,
Esgenoopetitj First Nation, N.B.Shots were fired during a clash between Native and non-Native fishermen on the waters of Miramichi Bay on Sept. 16.
James Ward of the Mi'kmaq Nation Warrior Society reported that at approximately 4 p.m., 30 to 40 boats manned by armed members of the Maritime Fishers Union (MFU, the non-Native fishermen's union) moved toward an area off Burnt Church where a number of Mi'kmaq traps are located. Mi'kmaq Rangers and Warriors responded in seven boats and were fired upon by the MFU boats. At least five rifle shots were fired at close range, none of which caused any injuries or damage to the Mi'kmaq boats. After being fired upon, the Rangers and Warriors withdrew for a short time, and then returned to stand guard on the traps. The MFU did destroy a small number of traps, but most of the Mi'kmaq's traps remain in the water, Ward said.
Another version of events, from Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) observer Natasha Krahn estimates the number of MFU fishing boats at 50.
Several Burnt Church boats responded to protect their traps. Krahn was on board one Burnt Church boat and other CPT members were videotaping from shore, she said.
"One large non-Aboriginal boat tried to run over the small dory I was in. They threw beer bottles and cut buoys at us. Then we heard automatic gunfire and retreated to shore. Someone is going to get killed here. Please pray right now for an end to this violence," Krahn said.
CPT observers also reported seeing six Royal Canadian Mounted Police boats, two Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) boats, and a large Coast Guard cutter in the bay, but these boats have made no moves to stop the attack on the Native fishery.
This is the third year Christian Peacekeepers have felt the need to monitor events at Burnt Church. The organization's Canada co-ordinator, Doug Pritchard, told Windspeaker the group's American delegates on the scene were shocked by what they saw to be police inaction.
"In the delegates' meeting the next day, American participants recalled the famous incident at Little Rock, Arkansas, when, due to a Supreme Court ruling desegregating schools, police officers risked their lives to escort nine black children to a white school each day, past hostile members of the surrounding white community. Delegates expressed their deep concern that the RCMP was not adequately protecting the Native community, who have a constitutional right to their lobster fishery, from possible attacks from non-Native fishers," Pritchard reported.
The next day, the second anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada Marshall decision that ruled Mi'kmaq people have the treaty right to make a "moderate" living by harvesting resources in the region, Fisheries and Oceans minister Herb Dhaliwal condemned the "vigilante action" of the non-Native fishermen.
"A number of commercial herring fishers decided to protest the closure of the herring fishery. In so doing, they took their boats into the fishing area that has been opened for Burnt Church First Nation's lobster food fishery. Some of them cut trap lines and damaged property belonging to the First Nation," the minister said. "These actions-which are completely indefensible-led to a confrontation that has already received significant media attention. You have no doubt heard some reports that firearms were discharged, and one boat burned in the conflict. At this point, we have no reports of personal injuries to any parties."
Dhaliwal pledged to lend his department's assistance to the investigation of the incident.
An RCMP spokesman dismissed the CPT allegations that police stood idly by while the fishermen broke the law.
"A number of non-Native fishers indicated to us that they were going to conduct a peaceful protest on the waters near the community of Burnt Church. Based on that information, since all citizens have a right to protest peacefully, we had our boats in the water to ensure that it would be conducted in that manner," Sergeant Francois Bidal said. "When the 55 or so boats reached the coastal waters of Burnt Church, when they got by the police officers, they decided otherwise so they then charged the fishing zone and attempted to destroy the Native fishing gear that was in the water."
He said when the RCMP realized what the fishers were up to, the Burnt Church community was alerted and asked to stay out of the area to avoid a confrontation.
"We had a helicopter up above and video cameras in place and basically our role in that kind of situation is to record evidence and deal with the evidence afterwards. The Native fishers chose to ignore our advice and there were some confrontations on the water," he said. "We monitored that and we were still in a position to respond should an actual physical confrontation take place. Given the fact that there were approximately 55 vessels plus the Native vessels that were in the same waters, as you could probably imagine, it was a difficult situation to try to manage. We're not in a position to board 55 different vessels at the same time."
There were no injuries and no direct physical confrontation, he said.
"Now we have a team of investigators following up. During that on-water confrontation there were some shots fired and we made certain observations in relation to the discharge of firearms and we're pursuing our investigation in relation to that," he added.
"One of the white's . . . well, non-Native's boats got stranded on a sand bar and Native fishers approached that vessel and took the two gentlemen that were on it to the Burnt Church wharf and a team of police officers arrested the men and took them away. At the same time, mysteriously enough, that boat caught fire. We're investigating that fire because it's our belief that the fire was set perhaps in retaliation for the action taken by the non-Native fishers. But we haven't been able to reach any conclusion yet."
He said the amount of damage to the fishing gear was surprisingly low considering the number of vessels milling around in the water.
Bidal said the boats arrived in the area at 6:15 p.m. and the incident was over by 8:15, during which time darkness fell, making the video evidence from the camera aboard the helicopter less useful than it might have been. But officers at ground level observed enough to commence an investigation, he added.
"We are following up our investigation to make sure individuals are held responsible for their action, regardless of ethnic background or anything else. Those are criminal acts and we consider them serious," he said.
The RCMP officer said the force believes it learned a lesson from this incident.
"I can tell you we may decide to change our strategy should a group of people decide they're going to use the terms 'peaceful protest' again with us," he said. "I sort of empathize with the people, I really do. Because, you know, you have that amount of boats, you have the police in the water and the first question that comes to mind is 'Why didn't the police stop them?' The sheer mass of it, it's chaotic at best-55 vessels-and our use of force continuum, we can't use any type of deadly force to prevent property damage. We use what we call the measured approach. Our intervention has to be measured to the threat and the risk of the criminal action that's taking place."
He said the investigation will take time because of the number of boat operators involved.
"We're going to take time. We all know what can happen when you rush an investigation," he said.
