[JaredMilne]

Looking at the Indigenous posts in my Twitter feed this morning, I found how many of them saw this as yet another instance of Indigenous lives meaning less than those of other people in Canada, such that they are far less likely to get justice when one of them is murdered. There are the many cases of murdered and missing Indigenous women, the deaths in Thunder Bay, the murders of Barbara Kettner, Dudley George, Neil Stonechild and Tina Fontaine...

...Plus all the trolls on Twitter talking about how Indigenous people shouldn't be acting like savages, tying back into the larger perception of their being stupid and primitive until Europeans arrived to "civilize" them.

That's what this is like for many Indigenous people-the view that they're seen as subhuman, and that their lives and concerns matter less than the rest of us. Lynn Beyak's insistence on the "good" that came out of the residential schools-and her bizarre insistence on digging in her heels when residential school survivors and others called her out on it (even though the TRC actually did emphasize that there were good parts of the residential school experience, showing that Beyak never even bothered to read the document she was talking about)-is another good example. Spills and environmental contamination resulting from resource development is another example, that their ways of life and concerns don't matter.

What too many people forget is that a lot of the dysfunction, alcoholism and violence seen in communities is a direct result of displacement, violence both physical and sexual, depictions of Indigenous people as stupid and backward, and government coercion so bad it would makes any other government interference look like anarchy that Indigenous people have repeatedly had to go through for the last 200 years.

Indigenous people are the only ones who are expected to make any changes, and to always make nice and be polite. Well, what are the rest of us supposed to change, and how do we accommodate what the Indigenous people have been saying for literally decades on end? And why shouldn't Indigenous people be able to express their anger? How often do you hear for calls of calm and politeness with groups like the Tea Party in the U.S., or other kinds of protests done by whites? Why can whites like the Bundy family occupy land and government offices and be treated with kid gloves, while Indigenous people are just disruptive and don't deserve to be listened to?

Do I uncritically agree with everything all Indigenous activists have said? Hell no-I've asked repeatedly about how we'll make up the funding shortfall needed for equal funding of Indigenous needs and other social programs without oil and gas development, and I've raised questions about overlap in areas like justice with Indigenous nations that say they're sovereign.

But the change just can't be one way, as too many non-Native people seem to insist.

[fifeboy]

JaredMilne JaredMilne:

Looking at the Indigenous posts in my Twitter feed this morning, I found how many of them saw this as yet another instance of Indigenous lives meaning less than those of other people in Canada, such that they are far less likely to get justice when one of them is murdered. There are the many cases of murdered and missing Indigenous women, the deaths in Thunder Bay, the murders of Barbara Kettner, Dudley George, Neil Stonechild and Tina Fontaine...

...Plus all the trolls on Twitter talking about how Indigenous people shouldn't be acting like savages, tying back into the larger perception of their being stupid and primitive until Europeans arrived to "civilize" them.

That's what this is like for many Indigenous people-the view that they're seen as subhuman, and that their lives and concerns matter less than the rest of us. Lynn Beyak's insistence on the "good" that came out of the residential schools-and her bizarre insistence on digging in her heels when residential school survivors and others called her out on it (even though the TRC actually did emphasize that there were good parts of the residential school experience, showing that Beyak never even bothered to read the document she was talking about)-is another good example. Spills and environmental contamination resulting from resource development is another example, that their ways of life and concerns don't matter.

What too many people forget is that a lot of the dysfunction, alcoholism and violence seen in communities is a direct result of displacement, violence both physical and sexual, depictions of Indigenous people as stupid and backward, and government coercion so bad it would makes any other government interference look like anarchy that Indigenous people have repeatedly had to go through for the last 200 years.

Indigenous people are the only ones who are expected to make any changes, and to always make nice and be polite. Well, what are the rest of us supposed to change, and how do we accommodate what the Indigenous people have been saying for literally decades on end? And why shouldn't Indigenous people be able to express their anger? How often do you hear for calls of calm and politeness with groups like the Tea Party in the U.S., or other kinds of protests done by whites? Why can whites like the Bundy family occupy land and government offices and be treated with kid gloves, while Indigenous people are just disruptive and don't deserve to be listened to?

Do I uncritically agree with everything all Indigenous activists have said? Hell no-I've asked repeatedly about how we'll make up the funding shortfall needed for equal funding of Indigenous needs and other social programs without oil and gas development, and I've raised questions about overlap in areas like justice with Indigenous nations that say they're sovereign.

But the change just can't be one way, as too many non-Native people seem to insist.

Well said Sir.

[herbie]

Tricks Tricks:

herbie herbie:

Don't pretend it's Alabama in 1963 and that Stanley could not face firearms charges.

I don't think he can be tried again could he? They didn't try for it the first time, so they can't just endlessly bring charges against him.

Double jeopardy means they can't bring the same charges against him. They can't bring endless charges against you either, but they could easily bring something like unsafe use of a firearm.
Whether that is wise with all this racist talk is debatable.

[Thanos]

I'd suggest that this is an example of why everyone should do jury duty at least once in their life. That way you have all the information as opposed to just the snippets the media tells you. Saskatoon is a large and relatively diverse place. I highly doubt that the jury pool was spiked by racists from the imaginary Native-hating local KKK chapter the hard core left-wing wants you to think happened. If they decided it was legitimate self-defense due to a perceived home invasion by an armed intruder then I have to go with what they say it was. The appeal that's coming will clarify things even more if necessary.

[martin14]

herbie herbie:

Tricks Tricks:

herbie herbie:

Don't pretend it's Alabama in 1963 and that Stanley could not face firearms charges.

I don't think he can be tried again could he? They didn't try for it the first time, so they can't just endlessly bring charges against him.

Double jeopardy means they can't bring the same charges against him. They can't bring endless charges against you either, but they could easily bring something like unsafe use of a firearm.
Whether that is wise with all this racist talk is debatable.

There is no double jeopardy in Canada you idiot.

Crown could appeal.
Hopefully they aren't that stupid.

[ShepherdsDog]

PluggyRug PluggyRug:

fifeboy fifeboy:

llama66 llama66:

So your fine with people coming onto your property and taking whatever they want?

His defence was that his firearm accidentally discharged , not that he was defending his property.

He's not allowed to defend his property, no castle doctrine here.

The judge said that his firing warning shots were completely justified. It's the shot that caused Boushie's death that is in question. The witnesses called by the Crown are why Stanley was acquitted. The lies and changes in their stories made it impossible for the jury to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. None of us are going to ever know what truly transpired in that yard. I'm just worried that people will see this as a precedent and more deaths will result from the ruling. Neither side has the right to take the law into their own hands.

In my own opinion, if Stanley's explanation is what happened, it was still an unsafe use of a firearm and the charge of manslaughter should have been made. I'm sorry I've been a hunter for years and I was trained in the safe and proper handling of firearms while in the military. That was not properly handling a firearm. Unfortunately, Boushie's friends were looking for trouble that day and found it in spades. That has been firmly established. Did he deserve to die for their poor choices(The lies made in court demonstrate they are still making poor choices)? No I don't think so, but I also don't think that Gerald Stanley and his family deserved to be placed in that situation either.

[ShepherdsDog]

Thanos Thanos:

I'd suggest that this is an example of why everyone should do jury duty at least once in their life. That way you have all the information as opposed to just the snippets the media tells you. Saskatoon is a large and relatively diverse place. I highly doubt that the jury pool was spiked by racists from the imaginary Native-hating local KKK chapter the hard core left-wing wants you to think happened. If they decided it was legitimate self-defense due to a perceived home invasion by an armed intruder then I have to go with what they say it was. The appeal that's coming will clarify things even more if necessary.

The trial was actually held in North Battleford and the jury was mostly drawn from that area.

[Thanos]

Okey-doke. The Natives didn't do themselves any favours though if any of them who were called for jury selection couldn't bother to show up for it.

[ShepherdsDog]

One of the witnesses didn't bother showing up and had to have a warrant issued. FN people were asked to show up and did, but they were excused/dismissed by both the defense and prosecution in the selection process.

[martin14]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

One of the witnesses didn't bother showing up and had to have a warrant issued.

Another had to be cautioned in the middle of testimony about perjury.
Then admitted he was lying about previous testimony.

Such is the civic responsibility of Crown witnesses to a murder trial,
and the 500 who didn't even show up for the 1st jury call.

[PluggyRug]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

In my own opinion, if Stanley's explanation is what happened, it was still an unsafe use of a firearm and the charge of manslaughter should have been made. I'm sorry I've been a hunter for years and I was trained in the safe and proper handling of firearms while in the military. That was not properly handling a firearm. Unfortunately, Boushie's friends were looking for trouble that day and found it in spades. That has been firmly established. Did he deserve to die for their poor choices(The lies made in court demonstrate they are still making poor choices)? No I don't think so, but I also don't think that Gerald Stanley and his family deserved to be placed in that situation either.

The unsafe handling handling of a firearm is correct. Like you I've around firearms most of my life. There is no winner in this case.

[ShepherdsDog]

What can happen, and I see it happening is the Crown appealing the verdict and have the case retried as Manslaughter. Proving intent is no longer required, just proving that Stanley handled the firearm in a careless/negligent manner that resulted in Boushie's death should be fairly easy.

[housewife]

This isn’t helping

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/politics/tr ... -1.4530093

It’s a bad situation imo the government tweets aren’t helping

[ShepherdsDog]

The justice system has to 'improved' for all Canadians, not just Natives. Non natives don't have Gladue reports to lessen their sentences, based solely on their race. We have to ensure all are equal before the law, even those who don't consider themselves subject to our laws.

[martin14]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

What can happen, and I see it happening is the Crown appealing the verdict and have the case retried as Manslaughter. Proving intent is no longer required, just proving that Stanley handled the firearm in a careless/negligent manner that resulted in Boushie's death should be fairly easy.

It's my understanding that since it was a jury trial, the Crown would
normally only appeal under the Judge's instructions to the jury.
The judge was the most senior in Sask, so that's probably not going to happen.


This might have been an overprosecution, cuz all the Natives screaming 'murder,murder',
didn't leave the Crown a chance for lower charges like manslaughter
or criminal negligence causing death.
We have seen the same in some US cop trials.

housewife housewife:

This isn’t helping
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/politics/tr ... -1.4530093
It’s a bad situation imo the government tweets aren’t helping

No, it's not helping at all.
This SJWery is getting out of hand.
Hopefully the judge is well and truly pissed by now.

Meh, an inquiry will waste another $5-6million, and not change much.