Alberta justice inquiry urged to expand mandate

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The lawyer for Donald Marshall says Alberta's Native Justice Inquiry would not be serving its mandate or purpose if it ignored recent charges that an Eden Valley Indian was beaten and left paralyzed by RCMP officers in southern Alberta.

He said the Alberta task force should study present alleged violations of injustice towards Native people and not depend solely on old records and past situations for their report.

Task force chairman Justice Robert Cawsey told Windspeaker he had no comment on the Pelletier incident and his group will not be looking into the controversial case.

Ruby, who represented the wrongly convicted Nova Scotia Micmac Indian during a recently concluded Royal Commission hearing, strongly disagrees with that stand.

Ruby said that's not the way a Native justice probe should be handled.

"They should keep an eye on what's going on. They should do both (study records and current charges)," he said.

The commission exonerated Marshall last week of any wrongdoing in a 1971 murder which he spent 11 years in jail for.

In Alberta, treaty Indian Rodney Pelletier intends to file a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the RCMP in Turner Valley, Alberta after being left paralyzed from the neck down following an arrest at his Eden Valley home, 64 km. south of Calgary.

The RCMP was called to Pelletier's home Jan. 16 to investigate a domestic dispute.

Family members have accused arresting officers of beating Pelletier, a father of two, during the arrest.

Calgary RCMP have filed its report to Alberta's Attorney General's office for review.

Ruby called Native justice probes "a waste of time and useless" in getting the government to put forward new policies, but do serve a purpose by educating the public about injustices to Native people.

He said the Alberta task force would also serve a useless function if it did focus attention on public perception of the justice system and hear testimony from the people who have been affected by it.

"(The public) has got to understand the way the system oppresses people," he said.

A Royal Commission inquiry in Nova Scotia into the wrongful conviction of Marshall released its final report Jan. 26. It concluded that Marshall was the victim of a "gross miscarriage of justice" when he was sent to jail for the murder of Sandy Seale almost 20 years ago. The commission completely exonerated Marshall of any blame.

After 11 years in prison, Marshall was released in 1982 after the RCMP reviewed the case. The real killer, Roy Ebsary, was convicted and died in jail in 1986.

Ruby is demanding the Canadian judicial council investigate the entire appeal court panel of Nova Scotia.

The Nova Scotia Barrister's Society also plans to review the conduct of any lawyer that was involved in the Marshall case when he stood trial on the original and appealed cases.

A Royal Commission if different than a task force because all testimony and written submissions are received voluntarily.

The Alberta task force, a joint-government initiative, will be reviewing past cases and holding public hearings throughout northern Alberta.

It was called Jan. 12 to study why a disproportionate number of Natives are in Alberta jails and to provide alternatives for dealing with Natives involved with the criminal justice system.

Federal New Democrat Native justice critic Bob Skelly said the Alberta task force may do some good if it "comes up with some solid conclusions."

He said the Alberta probe could add fuel to the Native justice movement taking place throughout Canada.

However, Skelly also noted that task force involvement could prejudice the Pelletier case if criminal charges are pending against the RCMP.

"Until charges are laid, and the trial process is complete -- no, I don't think it's proper (for the task force to get involved)."