NO JUSTICE NO PEACE

Once again a jury has found a white man not guilty of second degree murder. This time  of a 15 year old Indigenous girl in Winnipeg-Tina Fontaine.

This is the second time in less than two weeks that juries have deliberated and found a white man not guilty of the murder of an Indigenous youth-the first one being Colton Boushie in Saskatchewan.

What is wrong with Canada and its justice system? It protects the white settler but not the Indigenous youth these crimes are being perpetuated against.

To me, no justice means no peace. Why should Indigenous people not be angry about the state of Canada’s (in) justice system. It continually fails us and fails our most vulnerable.

Colonization plays an integral role in our judicial system and society in general. For those who don’t understand colonization, let me briefly explain its process. Colonization began five hundred years ago by the Europeans against Indigenous peoples and it continues today. It is reflected in how Indigenous women are treated and it is reflected in how Canada views Indigenous people in general.

The injustices against Indigenous people are ongoing. We have been seen as a race that is inferior since the time of contact. All you need to think about are the many genocidal and assimilationist policies that have been implemented to try and destroy Indigenous people and their way of life.

I think of the implementation of residential schools and its effects, how children were often herded like cattle into trucks and driven to schools thousands of miles from their families and homes. My mom was a residential school survivor and the havoc it caused in her life was immense. I think of the Sixties Scoop where once again Indigenous children were taken from their families and communities and adopted out to non Indigenous peoples in the child welfare system and the continued over representation of Indigenous people not only in our child welfare system but also our prisons.

Colonialism plays a huge part in Canada’s identity and history as a nation but when it rears it’s head like it has on many occasions, it is misunderstood and Indigenous people are told to get over it.

I ask settler Canadians-if endless injustices were made against your people would you like Indigenous people to tell you to get over it?

No I think not. Just like Colton Boushie didn’t deserve to be shot and killed, Tina Fontaine didn’t deserve to be killed, wrapped in a blanket and dropped in the Red River. They were both kids who deserved to live.

Indigenous people are seen as dispensable and not owed any justice. I say “no justice, no peace”

Enough is enough!