Delilah Saunders, whose sister Loretta was murdered in Halifax in 2014, speaks at the gathering on Parliament Hill.
Council of Canadians chapters and staff have been present at #JusticeForColten gatherings across the country over the past three days.
We have gathered in love and solidarity in:
1- Victoria (the traditional territory of the Saanich, Songhees and Esquimalt peoples)
2- Kamloops (traditional and unceded Secwepemc territory)
3- Northwest Territories (Denendeh)
4- Regina (Treaty 4 territory)
5- London (the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Attawandaron and Wendat peoples)
6- Peterborough (Nogojiwanong)
7- Ottawa (the unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin territory)
8- Halifax (K’jipuktuk)
9- Charlottetown (the traditional and unceded territory of the Abegweit Mi’kmaq First Nation)
The Council of Canadians is calling for justice for Colten Boushie of the Red Pheasant First Nation on Treaty 6 territory in Saskatchewan. On Friday evening an all-white jury found Gerald Stanley not guilty of killing 22-year-old Boushie in August 2016.
CBC reports, “Bobby Cameron, the chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, expressed deep skepticism about Stanley’s assertion that the gun he was holding accidentally went off, killing Boushie. Stanley testified during the trial and said he did not mean to shoot anyone. He said the handgun he was holding accidentally went off, shooting Boushie in the head. Expert witnesses testified the pistol was functioning normally and the handgun could only be fired by pulling the trigger.”
Chris Murphy, the Boushie family lawyer, said, “I ask you to try and understand the nearly bottomless disappointment [of the family]. There is a darkness that exists in this country. I believe we are going to have feel our way out of it.”
There are now calls for both an appeal of the verdict and a public inquiry.
#JusticeForColten
