“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…
Continue reading…about Explosive Report Finds RCMP Toxic Culture of Racism, Misogyny & Homophobia
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…
Continue reading…about Transitional Justice Plan Urgently Needed to End Genocide in Canada
(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…
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(Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp, Wascana, Saskatchewan, 2018) 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…
Continue reading…about Saskatchewan: The Land of Living Skies and Lethal Racism
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…
*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…
*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”…
Continue reading…about NAFTA 2.0 – Time to Get it Right or Kill It