Warrior Life Studios

Pam Palmater

Tag: sexualized violence

  • Explosive Report Finds RCMP Toxic Culture of Racism, Misogyny & Homophobia

    Explosive Report Finds RCMP Toxic Culture of Racism, Misogyny & Homophobia

    “This process has forever tarnished the image of the RCMP as a Canadian icon.”

    The Honourable Michel Bastarache, Independent Assessor

    RCMP’S TOXIC CULTURE

    Racism, misogyny and homophobia – these are the characteristics of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) toxic culture according to a new report released this week. 

    The report: Broken Dreams Broken Lives was written by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michel Bastarache, who had been engaged as an independent assessor to review the more than 3,000 claims of sexual harassment experienced by women who worked for the RCMP. He found that the experiences of these women in the RCMP were nothing short of devastating.

    In addition to those women who suffered from violent sexual assaults by their male RCMP colleagues, many women have been left with deep psychological injuries which range from major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder to substance dependence and even suicide. Bastarache emphasized that “it is impossible to fully convey the depth of the pain that the Assessors witnessed” and that “no amount of financial compensation can undo the harm” these women and their families experienced at the hands of the RCMP in all provinces and territories.

    RCMP CULTURE EATS POLICY

    The real tragedy is that none of this is news – not to the RCMP or the federal and provincial governments. All of them have known about this long-standing, widespread problem of racism, misogyny, homophobia and violence within the RCMP for many decades – through both internal and external reports and litigation.

    The RCMP are a male-dominated, para-military organization whose powerful, toxic culture has prevailed despite internal policy changes. They are impervious to change because “Culture eats Policy every time”. The RCMP are invested in the status quo and will not change.

    “Indeed, there are strong reasons to doubt that the RCMP has this capacity or the will to make the changes necessary to address the toxic aspects of its culture.”

    Canada Should Declassify, Deconstruct and Defund the RCMP

    SEXUALIZED VIOLENCE

    One of the most disturbing aspects of the Broken Dreams report is how male RCMP members and leaders saw women as “fresh meat” to be used and abused as they saw fit. Th

    The stories told to the Assessors “shocked them to their core”. In addition to “serious acts of penetrative sexual assaults”, male RCMP from all over Canada engaged in horrific acts of sexual harassment and abuse including:

    • unwelcome sexual touching,
    • men exposing their penises,
    • making degrading comments about women’s bodies,
    • humiliating name-calling,
    • spreading violent & obscene pornography forcing women to watch it;
    • being handcuffed to men’s toilets and locked in cells,
    • leaving dildos and used condoms on their desks;
    • being accused of selling sex;
    • outing their sexual orientation without their consent; and
    • stalking and bullying by male RCMP demanding sexual favours from women.

    National Action Plan to End Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls

    RCMP TARGETED INDIGENOUS WOMEN

    The report details how the RCMP treated Indigenous women even more poorly than other women. 

    In addition to the humiliating and degrading behaviours experienced by other women in the RCMP, Indigenous women were also referred to as “squaw” and “smoked meat” and “were, at times, forced to watch RCMP members treat other Indigenous people brutally.”

    Their male RCMP colleagues took advantage of the fact that many of these Indigenous women were young and came from small or remote communities and were not accustomed to this type of toxic culture.

    “Indigenous women, particularly those who had been abused as children, were preyed upon by their male colleagues for sexual favours.”

    Those Who Take Us Away: Human Rights Watch

    FEW BAD APPLES MYTH BUSTED

    The RCMP has long relied on the “few bad apples” justification to protect their organization’s status quo which has resulted in so much pain and suffering by women in the RCMP.

    Despite the fact that RCMP members and leaders have long denied the systemic and cultural nature of their racism, misogyny and homophobia, this report found that sexual harassment in the RCMP exists “at every level of seniority and in every geographic area of Canada” and is “deeply embedded in its culture”. Even those members and leaders who are well-intentioned make choices to accept this culture and stay silent on the injustices.

    “The reality is, however, that even honourable members (and well-intentioned leaders) have been required to conform to (or at least accept) the underlying culture, which they have, for the most part, had to adopt in order to succeed in their career. Those who do not accept the culture are excluded.”

    Brenda Lucki Must Go: Maclean’s

    RCMP CANNOT BE FIXED FROM WITHIN

    This report makes it very clear that the RCMP cannot be fixed from within. They simply refuse to acknowledge that there are significant problems that are systemic and deeply rooted within their culture.

    Their toxic culture of racism, misogyny and homophobia is “powerful and presents an obstacle to change”. Furthermore, “Financial settlements of class-action lawsuits will not change this culture”. The Assessors found that the RCMP “are invested in the status quo and will not likely want to make the necessary changes to eradicate this toxic culture”.

    In fact, many of the women that had been interviewed felt that there was no chance for reform within the RCMP and some suggested it was time that it be replaced. This is what many Black and Indigenous peoples have been saying for decades and why the calls for the RCMP to be abolished have grown stronger in recent years.

    And finally, the report concluded that the RCMP are not able to either investigate or remediate these problems.

    “These men were often not held accountable for their actions. Indeed, the Assessors were told that one tactic used by the RCMP to resolve complaints of sexual harassment was to promote and transfer these men.”

    Inquiry Needed into Police Violence against Indigenous Peoples

    WHAT’S NEXT?

    It is clear from this report that the RCMP has neither the will nor the ability to address its toxic culture and its widespread sexualized violence within its ranks. 

    It must also be kept in mind that this is just one of many class actions against the RCMP. The RCMP’s toxic culture of racism, misogyny and homophobia, together with widespread sexualized violence, represents a major public safety issue for women generally, and especially for Indigenous, Black and marginalized women and girls.

    We need Canadians to call on Canada to:

    • Open the books at the RCMP so we can hold those who preyed on women to account;
    • Conduct an independent investigation into the RCMP’s similar actions towards Indigenous peoples; 
    • Make reparations to Indigenous peoples who have suffered from RCMP harassment, over-arrests, racism, brutality, sexualized violence and killings; and 
    • Dismantle the RCMP once and for all.

    Pamela Palmater: Educating the Resistance.

  • Transitional Justice Plan Urgently Needed to End Genocide in Canada

    Transitional Justice Plan Urgently Needed to End Genocide in Canada

    Pam Palmater, Shelagh Day and Sharon McIvor testifying before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, DC – fall 2019

    For decades, the families of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls and their communities; together with Indigenous women leaders and experts and allied human rights organizations, advocated for government action to end the crisis. Many families had called for a national inquiry, which was supported by various international human rights treaty bodies. After a tumultuous start and numerous set-backs, the National Inquiry concluded its work and released its final report at a ceremony on June 3, 2019, before hundreds of Indigenous family members, leaders and advocates. They found Canada guilty of both historic and ongoing genocide.

    Throughout the National Inquiry’s proceedings, Minister of Indigenous Affairs Carolyn Bennett committed that Canada would not sit idly by while the inquiry proceeded. They committed to take action to end the violence, which was well documented in numerous reports. Yet, they failed to act. Since the release of the final report, very little, if any substantive action has been taken by PM Trudeau’s Liberal government to end genocide against Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

    The abuse, exploitation, violence, disappearances and murders of Indigenous women and girls continues unabated and represents the largest human rights crisis ever facing Canada. The National Inquiry confronted this reality head on when it concluded that Canada is guilty of genocide that is both race-based and one that has specifically targeted Indigenous women. They found that:

    While the Canadian genocide targets all Indigenous peoples, Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people are particularly targeted.

    This finding was based on an independent legal analysis and the extensive evidence
    gathered during the inquiry. They further explained:

    Canada’s colonial history provides ample evidence of the existence of a genocidal policy – a manifest pattern of similar conduct which reflects an intention to destroy Indigenous peoples.

    What resulted from this finding was a media blitz of commentators engaging in debates as to whether the inquiry went too far; whether they were using the word to strategically to get attention; or whether anything other than the Holocaust could ever amount to genocide. Very few of those commentators had specifically worked in, were educated in, or conducted research on genocide; nor were most of them lawyers. Yet, these emotional or political reactions to the finding is what led the discussion versus the very pressing need for governments to take urgent action.

    Even the United Nations High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet expressed great concern and called on Canada to examine this finding. Similarly, Luis Almagro who heads the Organization of American States, expressed his concern that Canada was too slow to act on the national inquiry’s findings. Meanwhile, some commentators reacted by saying that the inquiry’s finding should be investigated. There is no utility in reinvestigating this finding. It is a legal finding based on fact and law. What was needed then and what is needed now is action to end the genocide.

    None of this should come as a shock to government officials, Indigenous leaders, scholars and activists have long been calling Canada’s historic and ongoing treatment of Indigenous peoples genocide. Some have also highlighted the fact that sexualized genocide towards Indigenous women and girls has been an integral part of Canada’s violent colonization of Indigenous lands. While not a specific focus of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) investigation into residential schools, their final report also concluded that Canada’s actions towards Indigenous peoples amounted to cultural, physical and biological genocide: “part of a coherent policy to eliminate Aboriginal people as distinct peoples and to assimilate them into the Canadian mainstream against their will.”

    The crime of genocide is a crime under international law that developed over time – even before the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted in 1948. A state need only be guilty of one of the five ways to commit genocide against a racial group like Indigenous peoples, which include:

    (1) killing;

    (2) physical/mental harm;

    (3) conditions of life to bring about
    destruction;

    (4) preventing births; and

    (5) the forced transfer of children.

    Canada is guilty of all five.

    The National inquiry, without excluding the possibility that individuals could be held liable for genocide in Canada, and duly noting that acts and omissions of provinces within Canada, draws a conclusion on the responsibility of Canada as a state for genocide under international law.

    The inquiry also found that pre- and post-colonial settler governments have created, maintained and reinforced an infrastructure of violence towards Indigenous women and girls. This infrastructure of violence is a complex set of institutional laws, policies, practices, actions and omissions that treat Indigenous women as lesser human beings, who are sexualized, racialized and treated as disposable because of their sex and their race. This infrastructure remains firmly in place today manifesting in high rates of violence towards Indigenous women and girls.

    This genocide has been empowered by colonial structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the Sixties scoop, residential schools and breaches of human and Indigenous rights, leading directly to the current increased rates of violence death and suicide in Indigenous populations.

    The National Inquiry considered the following as examples of genocide:

    • Deaths of Indigenous women and girls in police custody;
    • Failure to protect them from exploitation and trafficking;
    • Failure to protect them from known killers;
    • Taking their children and placing in foster care at high rates;
    • Physical, mental and sexual abuse in state institutions (residential schools, hospitals, prisons, etc);
    • Denial of Indian status and band membership;
    • Forced and/or coerced sterilizations; and
    • Purposeful chronic underfunding of essential
    • human services like food, water, health, housing.

    These modern day examples discussed in the inquiry’s report would be in addition to
    earlier pre-meditated killings:

    • small pox blankets,
    • scalping bounties,
    • mass murders of some native groups, like the Beothuk; and
    • starvation policies and ethnic cleansing on the prairies.

    When considering the testimonies of thousands of families, Indigenous women leaders, and advocates, as well as subject-matter experts, together with extensive legal, historical and social science research; the inquiry could come to no other conclusion but genocide.

    Canada has displayed a continuous policy with shifting expressed motives but an ultimately steady intention, to destroy Indigenous peoples physically biologically and as social units.

    All governments and state agencies are still active perpetrators and perpetuators of genocidal violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Ending the genocide which is embedded in state institutions and society as a whole, will require immediate and urgent remedies that match the scope and character of these grave human rights violations – i.e. a comprehensive national action plan that is well-resourced and focusing on transitioning Canada out of genocide. That is no small feat. This will require external oversight but international human rights bodies or experts, with Indigenous women as core decision-makers.

    Organizations like the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) have access to experts in genocide – experts who have worked with other countries to transition out of genocide. It makes no sense to ask the perpetrator of genocide to be the one to design the plan and implement the plan to get out of genocide. Indigenous women and human rights experts must be the ones to lead this process, together with international genocide experts to design this plan. Canadian officials must then work directly with Indigenous women and their Indigenous governments to oversee a fully- resourced transitional justice plan that is national in scope, applies to all levels of government and related agencies, and focuses on:

    1. ending ongoing genocide;
    2. reparations for harms done; and
    3. the prevention of future genocide.

    This will require an Indigenous and human rights framework and gender-based analysis for all stages of the plan. While Canada promised the United Nations that it would come up with a national action plan by June 2020, few expect more than their standard action plan framework that tends to be overly general with no measurable outcomes. This is why several Indigenous women and human rights advocates attended the IACHR in the fall of 2019 to ask for international intervention and oversight. Canada’s response at the time was that they were too busy with the election. Then, they were too busy with holidays. June is several weeks away and in all likelihood, Indigenous women and girls will be left behind again.

    Genocide is the worst crime and human rights violation that can be committed against a people. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at Canada’s lack of action on the crisis. Pipelines get more money and attention than Indigenous women and girls.

    It’s truly time for more international intervention before thousands more lives are lost.

    Video of IACHR session

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkQ4G5iEnAI&list=PLDnK0xT7aXRAGR7DszneZTPkBn0YJHfxB&index=11&t=292s

    Here is my latest Youtube video talking about the need for a gendered covid-19 plan to take into account that Indigenous women and girls face not only the pandemic, but also ongoing genocide:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM6OBq1fo10
  • Justice system still not protecting Indigenous women and girls

    Justice system still not protecting Indigenous women and girls

    (Picture by Pam Palmater, Rally for Justice for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls in Winnipeg)

    This article was originally published in The Lawyer’s Daily on May, 28, 2019.

    “Her life mattered. She was valued. She was important. She was loved.”

     R. v. Barton [2019] S.C.J. No. 33.

    Cindy Gladue was an Indigenous woman originally from Alberta, where she grew up with her four siblings and extended family. She was also the mother to three daughters and her family described her as both a loving mother and caring auntie. She had close friends and always dreamed about being the first in her family to go to university. Cindy Gladue loved and was loved. She did not deserve her violent death in 2011 nor the indignity done to her body after. 

    She is now one of the many thousands of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada — a growing crisis that represents grave human rights violations. The trial of the man who admittedly committed this act of violence against Cindy is an example of how defective Canada’s justice system is when it comes to Indigenous women victims and how negligent Canada has been in ensuring the basic human rights of Indigenous women and girls are met.

    In this column, there will be no details about Cindy’s appearance, what she wore the night she was killed, where she was killed, whether she knew her killer, her level of education, her health status, or what she did for a living — because none of the facts is relevant to her death. Cindy is not to blame for her death. Cindy did not kill herself. Cindy did not engage in a dangerous knife fight or try to kill someone.

    Regardless of which version of the story is accepted by the next trial judge — that she was killed by a male trucker who violently cut an 11-cm gash in her vagina, or that she died from a tear from his violent, but unarmed interaction with her — she still died as a result. According to the SCC quoting from evidence at trial, the trucker then tried to hide evidence, change the crime scene and lie about his involvement. His name doesn’t deserve to be said aloud, nor does he get to hide behind any of the racist or sexist excuses he used at trial to defend himself. None of the evidence referred to at trial or the SCC indicates that he should be believed. Cindy’s life story does not get to be narrated by the man who admits to committing this violence against her.

    Sexualized violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada has been allowed to continue in plain sight by government officials, police officers, lawyers and judges who have treated Indigenous women and girls as though they are less worthy of life. In fact, were it not for the lengthy and persistent advocacy of Indigenous women and their allies, Canadians would still be unaware of the crisis.

    However, awareness of the crisis only gets us so far. The court proceedings which followed Cindy’s death show just how deeply engrained racism and sexism against Indigenous women still is in Canadian society, especially the justice system. In R. v. Barton [2019] S.C.J. No. 33, Justice Michael Moldaver, writing for the majority, allowed the accused’s appeal in part and sent the matter back to trial, but only on the charge of the unlawful act of manslaughter. The dissent would have dismissed the accused’s appeal entirely. Justices Rosalie Silberman Abella and Andromache Karakatsanis writing for the dissent (Chief Justice Richard Wagner concurring) agreed with the Alberta Court of Appeal that the matter be ordered back for retrial on both charges of first-degree murder and manslaughter. 

    The majority made some important points about the extent to which racism is still widespread in the justice system. At para.199, the majority explained: “Furthermore, this Court has acknowledged on several occasions the detrimental effects of widespread racism against Indigenous people within our criminal justice system. For example, in Williams, this Court recognized that Indigenous people are the target of hurtful biases, stereotypes, and assumptions, including stereotypes about credibility, worthiness, and criminal propensity, to name just a few. … In short, when it comes to truth and reconciliation from a criminal justice system perspective, much-needed work remains to be done.”

    They went on to say that the criminal justice system and all of its participants must take reasonable steps to address these biases — especially against Indigenous women. To this end, they directed that, on a go forward basis, trial judges ought to provide express instruction to juries to counter the well-known prejudice against Indigenous women. While there is no set text, trial judges should instruct juries about Indigenous women and girls having been subjected to a long history of colonization and systemic racism and then dispel myths about Indigenous women and those who are exploited for sex. These stereotypes were outlined in para. 202:

              – Are not entitled to legal protections;

              – Not deserving of respect, humanity and dignity;

              – Are sexual objects for male gratification;

              – Are available for the taking and no consent needed;

              – Assume any risks associated with “sex work”;

              – Are less credible than other people.

    The majority further stressed that, as a matter of respect, both the Crown and the defence counsel should have referred to her as Ms. Gladue instead of “Native girl” during the trial. These are important points and the SCC made many important clarifications in the case in relation to the many problems surrounding sexual assault cases.

    However, there is a downside to the majority’s decision. Their logic and reasoning around the impact of racism and bias in this case did not follow through to their ultimate finding. The majority allowed the accused’s appeal in part, by limiting the charge for which the killer could be retried — manslaughter only. The dissent pointed out that racism doesn’t work that way and can’t be so easily compartmentalized. They explained that there was no “filter” on the victim’s prior sexual history and no warning by the judge to the jury to avoid making stereotypical assumptions about Indigenous women.

    They also argued that this created an image of Cindy “that was unfair and would have permeated the whole trial and the jury’s deliberations on both murder and manslaughter” (para. 214). The dissent further emphasized, “He [trial judge] provided no specific instructions crafted to confront the operative social and racial biases potentially at work. This rendered the whole trial unfair” (para. 215).

    While the dissent did go further than the majority, they too missed an important opportunity to speak to the indignity committed against Cindy’s body after her death when segments of her vagina were brought into court as an exhibit. Cindy was a life-giving mother of three girls. Her body and her life-giving parts had already suffered a gross violation which led to her death. There was no necessity — in an effort to prosecute her killer — to remove her life-giving parts and put them on display in a courtroom. They could have used the coroner’s testimony, animated illustrations of the extent of the cut or tear, and worst-case scenario, pictures. Putting her life-giving parts on display served to further dehumanize her before the judge and jury. 

    Even though the SCC made some important findings in this case, their caution that the justice system has a lot more work to do applies equally to them. We need more than the “important step forward” they commended themselves for — we need a wholescale change. That won’t happen if the highest court in the land cannot call out and end the kind of indignity committed against Cindy — which represents the many indignities committed against Indigenous women and girls since contact. 

    This article was originally published in The Lawyer’s Daily on May, 28, 2019 – link below:

    https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/12605/justice-system-still-not-protecting-indigenous-women-and-girls-pamela-palmater-?category=opinion

  • Saskatchewan: The Land of Living Skies and Lethal Racism

    Saskatchewan is known as the “land of the living skies” for its breathtakingly colourful northern lights. It is also one of the most beautiful prairie-provinces in Canada, with stunning purple sand beaches and the incredible Sahara-like Athabasca Sand Dunes that stretch for nearly 100 kilometres. The province also boasts over 100,000 lakes and rivers, making it nearly 12% water. The diverse Indigenous Nations which have thrived on these territories since time immemorial have tied their customs, practices and traditions, and even their traditional Indigenous knowledge systems to the life-giving resources from these rich lands, waters and eco-systems. The very land that has sustained the Nehiyaw, Anishinabe and other Nations for thousands of years is firmly rooted in their identity as individuals, families, and Nations. Sadly, Saskatchewan is also well-known as one of the most racist provinces in Canada. With colonization and the clearing of the plains, came brutal acts of genocide, land dispossession and violent racism against First Nations – a legacy that has and continues to be a lethal reality for First Nations.

    Saskatchewan is the home to farmer Gerald Stanley, who shot and killed an unarmed First Nation youth, Colten Boushie, in cold blood in 2016, but was found not guilty by an all-white jury two years later – a result that shocked the nation. But it’s not just white farmers killing Indigenous peoples – 62.5% of people who died from police encounters in Saskatchewan were Indigenous, despite being only 11% of the population. But this should not come as a shock to anyone. It wasn’t that long ago in 2004 that the Neil Stonechild Inquiry exposed the Saskatchewan police practice known as “Starlight Tours” to the world. Starlight Tours occur when police officers detain Indigenous youth, drive them out of town and leave them stranded in sub-zero temperatures causing their deaths. While this racist practice was well-known by First Nations as common practice, Canada had a hard time accepting the persistence, prevalence and lethal nature of racism in this country. Meanwhile, the rate of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls continued to climb.

    In 2014, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) released a report on the “known” cases of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada which showed that Indigenous women and girls make up only 2.5% of the Canadian population, but 16% of the murder victims in Canada. However, Saskatchewan had the highest provincial rates – 55% of all murders of women were Indigenous. This unique intersection of racism and misogyny creates a situation where sexualized violence is perpetrated against Indigenous women and girls at alarming rates with relative impunity, and by all walks of society. While it is true that domestic violence is part of the issue, many of the murders and acts of sexualized violence were committed by society – doctors, lawyers, teachers, judges, social workers, foster parents and even police officers. Human Rights Watch released a report about police officers in Saskatchewan who commit sexualized violence against Indigenous women and girls in their custody, including sexual harassment, assault, invasive strip searches by male officers, and groping.

    Racialized violence, abuse and neglect of First Nations is so ingrained in Saskatchewan that it is not only reflected in societal attitudes, but those of its governing bodies and agencies. Nowhere are the socio-economic conditions worse for First Nations than in the sister provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. More than 80% of all children in care in Saskatchewan are Indigenous – second only to Manitoba’s 90% – primarily due to discriminatory agency practices or conditions of poverty from chronic and discriminatory government under-funding of core social services. Racism has a multiplier effect where not only are Indigenous children wrongly apprehended, but because of that race-based apprehension, they are less likely to get a high school education, and more likely to end up in youth corrections. More than 2/3 of all Indigenous peoples in prison were in the child welfare system. It should be no surprise then that Indigenous foster girls are also over-represented in murdered, missing, and sex trafficked and those exploited in the child porn industry. Human traffickers know exactly where to get them – foster and group homes.

    These multiple, over-lapping crises rooted in racism and violence against Indigenous peoples is getting worse. The Supreme Court of Canada, the federal Office of the Correctional Investigator, the Auditor General, child welfare advocates, and numerous United Nations human rights bodies, together with countless research findings, commissions, inquiries and coroner’s reports all point to continued failures by federal and provincial governments to take concrete action to stem or reverse these crises. This failure, which is nothing less than colossal in Saskatchewan, sends the very toxic message to society that Indigenous lives have less value. Despite all the symbolism in a post-TRC report Canada, provinces like Saskatchewan have made very few substantive changes that have addressed any of these issues. All the political meetings, negotiation tables, and other so-called partnership initiatives haven’t stopped the suffering of the people – instead conditions are getting worse.

    This is the reason that Idle No More was born. Not only did this organic social movement grew from Indigenous grassroots community members – it was inspired by federal and provincial government inaction on these social issues and their constant breach of our Aboriginal and treaty rights. Omnibus bills to remove protections for the many lakes and rivers which make up Saskatchewan, together with provincial leases, permits and other authorities for corporations to continue to steal from Indigenous lands helped inspire a Saskatchewan born, nationwide movement to demand action. Idle No More wasn’t the first public show of protest over racial injustice, and it won’t be the last. First Nation family members of lost loved ones organized the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp to again raise awareness and demand action. Their message was simple – the gross injustices committed against First Nations peoples in the name of racism and misogyny, like poverty, homelessness, over-incarceration, over-representation of our children in foster care and murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls – are all getting worse, not better.

    It would appear that Saskatchewan’s Premier is wholly detached from the problem. His focus seems to be on maximizing extraction of resources from First Nation lands; ignoring Aboriginal, treaty and lands rights; and clearing the legal playing field for more violence. In his recent Throne Speech, Moe announced that he will pass “trespass” legislation to allow more policing in “rural” areas. His focus is on the property rights of rural farmers without any mention for the safety of rural First Nation communities. We all know what this means. More laws to protect farmers who may hurt or kill other First Nations youth. His plan is eerily similar in nature to the bills proposed in the United States by certain states, to protect those (white people) who run over protesters with their cars, for example. Then add to Moe’s trespassing legislation, the fact that he is planning to arm conservation officers with AR-15 type carbine rifles! The very same conservation officers, who have recently been authorized to enter reserves through an MOU with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN).

    There is a political storm brewing in Saskatchewan that further risks the lives of First Nations people. Trespass legislation and semi-automatic weapons are the not answer. Land and resource transfers back to First Nations, ending discriminatory practices, implementing treaty rights – all of those would contribute to justice for First Nations. Pumping more weapons into First Nation territory will only lead to more deaths.

    It is long past the time that the province of Saskatchewan take real steps to stem the race-based violence and deaths of First Nations from whose lands and waters every single resident of Saskatchewan benefits.

  • Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp – Thank you for Standing Up for our Children

    The violent deaths of Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan and Tina Fontaine in Manitoba hit their families, communities and First Nations pretty hard. These were youths who had their whole lives ahead of them. The fact that deep-seated institutional and societal racism and violence against Indigenous peoples is what led to their deaths is a glaring injustice that we have seen happen many times over to our people. But the other glaring injustice is how institutional and societal racism and violence allows the killers of our people to walk free. The high level of impunity for lethal race-based violence against Indigenous peoples serves only to reinforce the racist idea that Indigenous lives don’t matter. Without intervention from federal, provincial and municipal governments, agencies and police forces, our people will continue to be at risk.

    Canada’s failure to act on this crisis means that First Nations must continue to take action to stand against these injustices which are killing our people. At a time when our hearts were collectively breaking over the non-guilty verdicts in the Gerald Stanley murder trial of Colten Boushie and the Raymond Cormier murder trial of Tina Fontaine, First Nation members from Saskatchewan got together and created the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp. On February 28, 2018, they raised a traditional teepee and lit a sacred fire in Treaty 4 territory at Wascana Park, just across from the Saskatchewan Legislative building. These grassroots community members used their most powerful tool to bring attention to this crisis – their voices and their traditions.

    But the teepee and the sacred fire not only attracted media attention for our issues, but it also turned into something special. This camp became a gathering place for those who had lost children to violence, foster care and the justice system. Mothers, fathers, aunties and cousins with broken hearts came to the camp to share their stories, release their emotions and start their healing journeys. Far from creating any safety risk to the public, this camp offered hope, comfort, solidarity, a sense of collectiveness and empowerment. The longer the camp remained at Wascana Park, the more the media took notice and started to highlight the many injustices faced by First Nations. The core message from the camp was that we need justice specifically for Indigenous youth in the wake of the Stanley and Cormier not guilty verdicts; and justice for the many Indigenous children stolen from our communities by child welfare agencies, the justice system and societal violence.

    For many months, it may have appeared to outsiders looking in, that they were alone and that their camp would eventually fade from attention. They occupied the area peacefully for four months, supported by donations from First Nations and allies. It wasn’t until the Province of Saskatchewan thought the camp would interfere with its planned location for its Canada Day beer gardens that they took legal action. On June 5, the camp was issued and eviction order and ten days later, the Regina Police Service began their eviction procedures by removing the tents. On June 17 the teepee was taken down and on June 18 six of the campers were arrested and removed from the area, though charges were never laid. Many of us watched with anger as the province carried out this heavy-handed action, trampling over the wounded hearts of those who have found some temporary peace at the camp – all for the sake of beer gardens.

    But if there is one lesson from our elders that we have to remember, is that we can never give up hope. Our ancestors died protecting the rights of future generations not yet born. We inherited the obligation to face each barrier put in front of us by colonial powers, with the same commitment to overcoming it, as our ancestors had. So, on June 21 National Indigenous Peoples Day, when we saw videos of the campers returning to Wascana Park, re-erecting the teepee and joining together in a round dance, our collective hearts were lifted again – this time with a renewed sense of resistance and empowerment. On June 23rd, a second teepee was erected and others joined in solidarity after that until there were many teepees side by side. People made donations of cash, food and water to support the campers and the healing continued. We owe so much to the spirit and determination of those who have stayed at the camp for long. Their commitment is why we are still talking about justice for our stolen children.

    There is a real and growing crisis in Saskatchewan that demands an emergency, crisis-level joint response by federal, provincial and First Nation governments, experts and advocates. It doesn’t matter what the federal or provincial governments say they have done, what programs they have funded, or who they talk to at various discussion tables – what matters is that what they have done to date has not worked and the crisis continues to get worse. Therefore, a radical shift from the status quo is required to save the lives of our children. They don’t have a whole childhood to wait for the slow, drawn-out process of policy change. Our children are dying and the statistics present a dire picture for their life-chances if we don’t change this now.

    Child Welfare

    In Canada, Indigenous peoples make up 5% of the population and Indigenous youth make up 7% of the youth population. Nationally, Indigenous children make up 48% of all children in foster care – a number that is 3 times higher than during the height of residential schools. However, in Saskatchewan, an alarming more than 70% of children in provincial care are Indigenous and the numbers continue to increase. We know that less than half of those children will graduate from highschool and more likely to end up in youth corrections. The statistics also show that that Indigenous girls in foster care are 4 times more likely to be sexually abused; more likely to be targeted for human sex trafficking and are over-represented in murdered and missing Indigenous girls. The theft of our children into foster care does not just impact the children. Indigenous mothers who lose their children to foster care are more likely to die from heart disease and suicide.

    Justice System – Prison

    Canada has had the lowest crime rate since 1969 with a reduction of 34% since 1998. Yet Indigenous people make up more than 26% of those in federal prisons and Indigenous women make up 34%. Saskatchewan’s numbers are frightening. Over 76% of admissions to Saskatchewan prisons are Indigenous – the highest rates in Canada. Nationally, 41% of youth in corrections are Indigenous, with 51% being Indigenous girls. In Saskatchewan youth corrections, 92% are Indigenous boys and 98% are Indigenous girls. They have the highest youth incarceration rates in the entire country. More than 1/5 of Indigenous prisoners were in residential schools and 2/3 were in the child welfare system. It is important to remember that Indigenous peoples represent 1/3 of all suicides in prison and more than half of those who suffer in solitary confinement/segregation.

    Violence – State & Societal

    In 1996, the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples noted that racism is rampant from police forces to the courts. Saskatchewan policing in particular has a long, violent history of racism against Indigenous peoples. In 2004, the Saskatchewan Commission on First Nations and Metis Peoples and Justice Reform found that racism in policing was a “major obstacle” in relations with First Nations. The well-known police practice of “Starlight Tours” where police detain and drive Indigenous men to the outskirts of town where they freeze to death doesn’t seem to have ended with the Neil Stonechild inquiry. Indigenous women are often targeted with sexualized violence – including from police. The Human Rights Watch report from 2017 documented instances of excessive use of force, abusive strip searches and other sexual harassment against Indigenous women. The statistics also show that Saskatchewan has the highest rate of police involved deaths (beatings, chokings, shootings) of Indigenous peoples (62.5%).

    The RCMP report into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls showed that nationally Indigenous women and girls make up 16% of those murdered, but in Saskatchewan, that number jumps to 55%. Societal violence comes from the places most people do not suspect: priests, farmers, police, corrections, doctors, lawyers, judges, social workers, teachers, and foster parents. Very few of those who sexually violate or murder Indigenous women and girls are serial killers. The statistics also show they are less likely to be murdered by their spouse than Canadian women. The high level of impunity (non-conviction) for those perpetrators in society who continue to commit violence against Indigenous peoples is exacerbated by the many reports that document how police fail to protect Indigenous peoples or properly investigate their cases.

    We have a real crisis in Saskatchewan. What has been done isn’t working. We need a new approach – one that is led by First Nations and their experts and advocates. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the campers at the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp who have sacrificed their time and energy, and risked police arrest and jail, to keep the light on this crisis. We don’t want to lose any more of our children and we want to bring the rest of our children who are in foster care, corrections, trapped by human traffickers, or missing – back home. Bring our children home.

    In memory of all those precious lives those and sadly, too many to name:

    Neil Stonechild, Leo Lachance, William Kakakaway, Leonard Paul John, Colten Boushie

    Nadine Machiskinic, Shelley Napope, Melanie Dawn Geddes, Amber Redman, Danita Bigeagle

    Haven Dubois, Brandon-Bee Ironchild, Evander Lee Daniels

    Please see my YouTube video that I have created in support of the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mYjduyt4Jw

  • Public Inquiry Needed to Address Sexualized Violence in Policing and Corrections System

    *Originally published in Lawyer’s Daily on November 6, 2017 (edited to include links)

    The integrity of Canada’s policing and corrections system has been called into disrepute from the sexualized violence committed by its police and corrections officers against Indigenous women and girls, female prisoners and even their own female colleagues.

    Recently, officials at Edmonton’s maximum security prison suspended seven employees — including managers — for allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The male guards are now under investigation not only for the sexual harassment and assaults but also for their retaliatory actions against their female colleagues who tried to report the harassment. In some cases, it is alleged that protocols were breached risking the safety and security of the female prison guards including using inmates as weapons of intimidation.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/prison-guards-accused-of-using-inmates-as-weapons-to-cover-up-alleged-sexual-harassment-1.4378784

    While many would like to believe that this is an example of “a few bad apples,” the number of similar complaints across the country points to a much deeper problem in corrections. Earlier this year, in another maximum security prison in Agassiz, B.C., the sexual assault of a female prison guard by her male colleague was actually caught on camera. Far from an isolated incident, the union representing various locals in B.C. say they regularly assist female corrections employees in similar harassment cases.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/female-prison-guard-sexually-harassed-1.4299400

    The widespread sexually abusive actions by corrections officers is not limited to female colleagues. In 2012, prison guards at Ontario’s Grand Valley Institution for Women were accused of sexual abuse of female prisoners by trading tobacco and drugs for sexual acts. This was not news to the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, which represents women and girls in the justice system, has filed many reports on such incidents calling for an external review and for the CSC to stop using male guards in women’s prisons.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prison-guard-accused-of-trading-drugs-for-sex-1.1211354

    Prison advocates also made calls for surveillance cameras in all institutions after surveillance videos captured numerous incidents of prison guards beating prisoners in Ontario and Quebec prisons in 2013. Several videos depict prisoners cowering in fear in what some lawyers have referred to as absolute “terrorism” committed by prison guards. The Office of the Correctional Investigator responded that not only that video surveillance procedures failed 70 per cent of the time, but that “it’s probably not a coincidence that some alleged prison beatings occur in spots where there’s no surveillance cameras.” The importance of surveillance cameras cannot be overstated. It was surveillance footage that showed Vancouver police dragging an unconscious Mi’kmaw man, Frank Paul, out of a jail cell and into an alleyway where he died of hypothermia in 1998.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prison-beatings-caught-on-video-at-ontario-and-quebec-jails-1.2426904

    Who are the arrested, detained, or imprisoned supposed to call when they have been beaten or sexually abused by corrections officers? There is a major power imbalance between corrections and prisoners, and the police are part of the same abusive system that protects its own before protecting those in their charge. The RCMP have been inundated with class actions and public complaints about their long-standing racism, sexism, abuse and harassment against the public and its own members.

    Though not admitting any wrongdoing, this year, the RCMP recently settled a class action suit against it for the long-standing sexual harassment and assault of thousands of female RCMP members. In 2016, a second class action suit against the RCMP — this time male members — allege harassment and bullying. Also in 2016, another complaint alleges RCMP bullying and unwanted sexual touching and nudity at their own police college run by the RCMP in Ottawa. This is all on top of the 2014 report which documented hundreds of cases of corruption, involving hundreds of officers in the RCMP.

    The deep-rooted problem of racism, sexism and abuse in policing and corrections is not new in the male-dominated system. The Royal Commission on Donald Marshall Jr.’s wrongful imprisonment highlighted police racism back in 1989. The 1991 Report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry was instigated at the failure by police to properly investigate the sexual assault and murder of Indigenous woman Helen Betty Osborne and the police shooting of unarmed Indigenous leader J.J. Harper. The report highlighted the fact that the police do little to protect Indigenous peoples, especially women and girls.

    The 2012 Missing Women Commission of Inquiry from B.C. found “blatant failures” and systemic bias against the victims and their families, many of whom were Indigenous. One of the most damning reports comes from Human Rights Watch in 2013 on abusive policing in B.C. which documented reports of RCMP physical and sexual abuse of Indigenous women and girls.

    Both CSC and RCMP have both been implicated in the bullying, harassment, physical assaults, sexual assaults and/or deaths of female officers, female civilian employees, fellow male officers, male and female prisoners, and Indigenous women and girls. The class actions against the RCMP should have been a wakeup call for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to take immediate remedial action. The 2017 CSC survey which reported that 40 per cent of CSC had been a victim of workplace harassment — 60 per cent of cases from their own CSC co-workers. The survey also showed that the problem is getting worse — having increased by over 30 per cent since 2014. Even the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has noted that sexual harassment “continues to take place in organizations with a historical male dominance.”

    The very fact that the terms of reference for the national inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls excludes a review of police conduct is yet another example of the resistance of Canadian officials to address the problem. The knee-jerk reaction of governments to protect their police forces at all costs, may well cost them the loss of public confidence in policing and corrections.

    The fact that the federal government chose a commissioner, Qajaq Robinson, for the national inquiry whose husband is a RCMP officer who pleaded guilty to beating Indigenous prisoners in 2009, begs the question as to whether PM Trudeau and his cabinet had any real intention of getting at the truth — which so far, all points directly at racism, sexism, abuse and corruption in policing and corrections.

    One would have thought with a self-professed feminist prime minister and an experienced minister like Ralph Goodale, there would have been some immediate and substantive actions over the last two years since they took office. But, much like the perpetually absent Minister on the Status of Women Maryam Monsef — there are very few federal voices willing to tackle the monumental problem of racism, sexism, abuse and corruption in policing and corrections in Canada. It is hard to imagine a minister on the Status of Women as willfully blind on such high profile incidences of sexism and sexual abuse as Monsef.

    When those entrusted to serve and protect serve only their own interests and abuse those in their care, the system will inevitably start to unravel — becoming a national crisis. Trudeau ought to use the revelations about sexual abuse in the Edmonton’s maximum security prison to dismantle this broken system of male dominance and sexualized violence in government institutions and restore public safety.  

    *Link to the article originally published in Lawyer’s Daily on November 6, 2017: 

    https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5055/public-inquiry-needed-to-address-sexualized-violence-in-justice-and-corrections-system-pamela-palmater?category=columnists Please check out my a related video on my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o1PCzjhhno&t=14s

  • NAFTA 2.0 – Time to Get it Right or Kill It

    *Originally published in Lawyer’s Daily on October 10, 2017

    There is a long list of items that U.S. President Donald Trump has put on his “to kill” list, including Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, the Department of Education, immigration and most recently, NAFTA. Trump called the North American Free Trade Agreement the “worst trade deal ever made” in U.S. history and indicated he may have to kill the deal.

    Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto, on the other hand, are scrambling to renegotiate with Trump in order to save NAFTA. But why the mad rush to feverishly save NAFTA? It’s not like it has widespread support among the people of those three countries and I am sure if the planet had a vote — it would be a resounding no.

    So what’s the big deal about NAFTA? NAFTA is a legal agreement that came into effect on Jan. 1, 1994, to eliminate most of the tariffs on trade between the three signatory countries with the intention of encouraging trade on a massive scale. However, it is important to note that Canada and the U.S. already had massive trading relations prior to NAFTA and would continue to trade on a large scale, even if Trump kills NAFTA.

    Although NAFTA is clearly a trade deal, the promise made to the citizens of all three countries was that it would improve the standard of living for all. While it is hard to analyze NAFTA’s impact on the Canadian economy in isolation from many other factors — by many accounts, NAFTA has not been the economic saviour it was originally touted to be when it was first signed.

    More recent studies have concluded that there have been minimal, if any, positive impact on welfare in the three countries. In fact, Canada’s welfare shows an actual decline of 0.06 per cent. Some experts have argued that NAFTA has created more economic instability than actual benefit as millions have lost their jobs, wages have stagnated generally and decreased in Mexico. Similarly, while Canada’s trade increased by 11 per cent during NAFTA, its terms of trade (relative price of imports to exports) decreased by 0.11 per cent. This doesn’t even take into account the true cost of environmental destruction or the localized impacts on Indigenous peoples in all three countries.

    Some have referred to NAFTA as the end result of negotiations between self-interested transnational corporate elite largely benefitting corporations — not people or the planet. Numerous civil society organizations in all three countries have rallied against NAFTA 2.0 unless there are substantive amendments — including many thousands protesting in the streets in Mexico. First Nations in Canada, tribal governments in the U.S., and Indigenous peoples in Mexico have been left in the dark and have no meaningful say in whether NAFTA goes ahead and if so, on what conditions. Here in Canada, the negotiations themselves are taking place in relative secrecy and there are no widespread consultations with Canadians, civil society organizations, experts and no legal consent by First Nations.

    The important question is whether we want to save NAFTA at all costs and what are those costs?

    We have a great deal to worry about after all. Remember former Canadian Prime Minister Harper’s secret Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations? Just like Trudeau’s process, there were no widespread consultations with First Nations for the TPP either. The draft TPP agreement was eventually leaked and revealed that there were no real protections for human rights, First Nation’s rights, the environment or women. There is a very real concern that Canada’s negotiators are relying on similar TPP wording for NAFTA — so as not to rock the trade negotiations.

    While we are all distracted with NAFTA, the TPP negotiations we thought were dead — continue under the radar. On Sept. 30, Canada announced a 30-day consultation period regarding its ongoing TPP discussions with other nations including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Peru and Singapore and others (minus the U.S.).

    First Nations and Canadians alike have a great deal to worry about. While welfare has decreased for Canadians since NAFTA, socioeconomic conditions have decreased to crisis levels for First Nations. NAFTA has had other devastating impacts. Many Mexicans have lost their farms and were subjected to substandard working conditions. There has been significant environmental destruction in all three countries and current NAFTA rules undermine attempts to address climate change by states. Indigenous women and girls suffered increased violence at the hands of the extractive industry bolstered by NAFTA — think about the thousands of murdered and disappeared in Canada-U.S.-Mexico near mining projects or man-camps. To make matters worse, there are no concrete legal protections, enforcement mechanisms or redress for violations of Indigenous rights, human rights or the environment under NAFTA.

    If that were not bad enough, Investor-State Dispute Settlement — known as ISDS — leaves the decision-making for all disputes in the hands of a couple of trade lawyers. The relevant laws considered in their decision-making are rooted within NAFTA and laws relating to human rights, Indigenous rights and environmental protections are not factored in. Under NAFTA’s controversial ISDS provisions, Canada has earned the “most-sued country” title having paid out hundreds of millions of taxpayer money to large corporate investors who have sued Canada under ISDS. While the U.S. has yet to lose a single case under ISDS, Canada stands to potentially lose billions more — not including the millions in legal fees.

    The perceived benefits of NAFTA are far outweighed by the significant harms to people and the planet. If Trump kills the deal, the world would not end. Trade between the three countries would continue. We must keep in mind that this deal impacts the lands, waters, resources and safety of First Nations in Canada and legally, this deal cannot go ahead without their free, prior and informed consent. That is, assuming Trudeau meant what he said at the United Nations General Assembly last month when he said Canada accepts the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) without qualification. Article 19 is very clear that Canada must obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before adopting any measure that may affect them.

    So, perhaps the solution lies with First Nations? NAFTA is dead without First Nation consent anyway — so, Trudeau ought to start the good faith consultation process before his negotiators make promises they can’t keep.

    Link to the article as originally published in Lawyer’s Daily on Oct.10, 2017:

    https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/4808/nafta-2-0-time-to-get-it-right-or-kill-it-pamela-palmater?category=columnists Please check out a related video on my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIkzNTv6_X0&t=1s