Federal government announces plans for an Indigenous justice framework
- EFN Staff | February 14, 2018
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced a new Indigenous Rights Framework during a speech in the House of Commons. The newly announced framework will include a new legislation policy that would make the recognition and implementation of rights between Indigenous peoples and the federal government, said Trudeau.
The announcement was made following a meeting with members of the federal government and Colten Boushie’s family a few days after Gerald Stanley was found not guilty on charges of second-degree murder of 22-year old Boushie.
After the Stanley verdict was revealed on February 9 in Battleford, cousin of Boushie Jade Tootoosis said her and her family were to travel to Parliament Hill to pursue justice and change. On February 11, Tootoosis, Boushie’s mother and uncle Debbie and Alvin Baptiste along with the family lawyer Chris Murphy arrived in Ottawa.
“We are tired, we have heavy hearts. We see the injustice and we’ve been quiet for so long,” said Tootoosis in a media scrum at Parliament Hill. “We stand here with the hope that there can be a difference that no other family has to endure what we went through…there needs to be change.”
They all met with the Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous Services Jane Philpott, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale, Senator Lillian Dyck and Prime Minister Trudeau. It was a chance for the family to share their story with members of the federal government of what they faced within the past year and a half.
“I had the honour of spending some time with Colten Boushie’s family…and through all their grief, anger, and frustration, their focus was not on themselves and the tragedy that they just endured but on how we must work together to make our system and our institutions better,” said Trudeau in the House of Commons. “I am pleased to announce that the government will develop in full partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Metis – a new recognition and implementation of Indigenous Rights Framework that will include new ways to recognize and implement Indigenous rights.
The framework will be the opportunity to build new mechanisms, to recognize Indigenous governments and to ensure full implementation of Treaties and other agreements, said Trudeau.
“We have a responsibility to do better…to make sure that no family has to endure what they went through,” he said. “The Criminal Justice system is just one place in which reforms are urgently needed…that is why we will bring forward broad-based, concrete reforms to the criminal justice system including changes to how juries are selected.”
The newly announced legal framework will not only include proposed changes in the justice system but also other issues that Indigenous peoples continue to face such as the need for safe drinking water on-reserves, housing, Indigenous child welfare, youth suicides, education and healthcare.
“All of these things demand real positive action that must include and be grounded in the full recognition and implementation of Indigenous rights,” said Trudeau.