THE KILLING of COLTEN BOUSHIE: Exposing Racial Divides
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IN THIS ISSUE THE KILLING OF COLTEN BOUSHIE: Exposing Racial Divides Duration: 21:10 The trial of Gerald Stanley in the killing of Colten Boushie exposed deep racial divides in Canadian culture. Boushie was a young Cree man from the Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan. He and his friends drove onto the farm of Gerald Stanley, a 56-year-old white farmer, in August 2016. When the dust settled Boushie was dead and Stanley was accused in his murder. But a trial acquitted Stanley. And that’s left questions and sparked anger amongst the Indigenous community and others who say the Canadian justice system is racist. CREDITS News in Review is produced by Related News in Review Stories CBC NEWS and Curio.ca Residential School Shame: The TRC Report GUIDE Writer: Jennifer Watt (Sep 2015) Editor: Sean Dolan Our Canada: Are We Racist? 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Tonight) Who Do We Think We Are? (The National) CBC authorizes reproduction of material contained in this guide for educational Why don't residential school survivors just get purposes. Please identify source. over it?: Murray Sinclair (CBC Radio | The Current) News in Review is distributed by: Curio.ca – CBC Media Solutions © 2018 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation VIDEO REVIEW verdict on February 9, 2018. This verdict caused an outpouring of disbelief and anger across Before Viewing – Teaching Note: Canada — and in the Indigenous community in particular. Discussing Race and Racism with students It is important that teachers have already Here is a summary of the different testimonies established classroom norms to support the given at the trial as reported by Guy emotional safety of students in their classroom Quenneville, a reporter for CBC News. These before showing this video. A safe classroom is accounts focus on what happened according one where a teacher acknowledges and to witnesses who were at the scene the day reflects on their own biases, assumptions and Boushie was shot and killed by Gerald Stanley. vulnerabilities on controversial and sensitive August 9, 2016 – Biggar, Saskatchewan topics while creating conditions for students to do the same. Simply asking students to express Colten Boushie, his girlfriend, Kiora Wuttunee, “opinions” on the Colten Boushie case and and his three friends, Eric Meechance, Cassidy accepting them uncritically may cause Cross-Whitstone and Belinda Jackson were in considerable hurt and damage to students an SUV driving back to the Red Pheasant First especially at a time when Canadians are Nation reserve after a day of swimming and trying to build better relationships between drinking when they got a flat tire. non-Indigenous and Indigenous people. Students may have already read hateful, They pulled into the driveway of a ranch violent and anti-Indigenous posts on social belonging to Marvin and Glennis Fouhy where media concerning this case and need a one of Colten’s friends admitted to trying to teacher to critically unpack their beliefs and break into a truck. It appears that the person the beliefs they have been exposed to. tried to smash into the truck using the butt end of a rifle. The rifle broke and the group left the ranch, driving on the flat tire. Eventually they This resource from Teaching Tolerance may help teachers create started to hear another noise (besides that of an intentional plan for classroom learning involving the flat tire and steel rim) which they believed difficult topics and strong emotions: was the muffler of the SUV “dragging badly” www.tolerance.org/sites/ default/files/general/ Responding_to_Strong_Emotions.pdf along the ground. This is when they decided to pull into the driveway of farmer Gerald Stanley. It was a little after 5pm. What happed on Gerald Stanley’s farm? Gerald and his son Sheldon had been putting Colten Boushie was a 22-year-old Cree man up a fence on their property when they heard who was shot and killed by Gerald Stanley, a the SUV come down the driveway leading to Saskatchewan farmer, on August 9, 2016. the farmhouse, garage and shop. Gerald and Stanley, a 56-year-old white man, was charged Sheldon saw someone get out of the SUV and with second degree-murder. He pleaded not go into a yellow pickup truck that was parked guilty. His two-week trial ended with a not guilty on their property. Next, the person got back /1 into their vehicle and the Stanley’s saw the SUV Meechance and Cross Whitstone tell a make its way toward the shop. The vehicle different story. They say the initial shots were stopped and someone got out and climbed fired at them and they could hear bullets on to a parked ATV. Sheldon yelled at that whizzing by their heads as they fled down person. Eric Meechance admitted he tried to Stanley’s driveway. Belinda Jackson testified start the ATV, but denied he was trying to steal that she saw Stanley run up to the vehicle and it. At this point, Boushie was in the back of the shoot Boushie twice in the head (the autopsy SUV with Wuttunee and Jackson. found one bullet entry hole). As soon as the ATV ignition triggered the engine, After the third shot, Wuttunee and Jackson got Gerald and Sheldon began running toward the out of the back seat and opened the driver’s SUV. Fearing the approaching men, the driver side door. Boushie’s lifeless body tumbled out tried to flee the scene but not before Sheldon of the vehicle along with the broken .22 calibre smashed the windshield of the SUV with the rifle (missing the stock that was later found at hammer he was using to build the fence and his the Fouhy ranch). Sheldon Stanley said father kicked and broke the rear tail light. The Wuttunee and Jackson then attacked his SUV didn’t get far because it eventually hit a mother Leesa, who had been outside mowing parked vehicle further down the driveway. grass a short distance from the SUV and Sheldon Stanley says he then ran into the house stopped to see what the commotion was to get his truck keys in effort to chase the SUV if it about. Jackson admitted to punching her. She tried to drive away. Belinda Jackson says she claims Leesa Stanley said, “That’s what you get heard Gerald say to his son to “go get a gun.” for trespassing on other people’s property.” While Sheldon headed inside, Gerald ran to a shed and grabbed a pistol. According to Gerald Gerald Stanley said he did not point a gun at Stanley, he fired the gun in the air twice to try and anyone that day. He told the court that he scare the group in the SUV. fired two shots into the air and, as he approached the SUV, he believed the gun When Sheldon came out of the house, he found had no other bullets. He says he saw the riding his father by the window of the SUV with a semi- lawnmower that his wife had been using and, automatic pistol in his hand. He heard two shots seeing she was no longer on the machine, he while he was inside and one more as he was thought that she had been run over by the leaving the house. It appears that Meechance SUV. At that point, he ran as fast as he could to and Cross-Whitstone fled the SUV just before the the SUV and, hearing the engine rev, went to first two shots were fired. Boushie must have the driver’s window intending to turn the car moved into the driver’s seat and started to try to off. He says that, as he was reaching into the drive away. According to Gerald Stanley, he ran vehicle, the gun accidently fired. He said his up to the SUV and, while attempting to turn off finger was not on the trigger. the vehicle’s engine, the pistol accidentally fired the fatal shot. /2 Questions 6. What was the defence’s main argument in the trial? 1. Can you see any conflicting evidence given by the witnesses? Indicated the 7. The jury also considered a verdict of conflicting evidence with two different manslaughter in the case. coloured highlight markers. True False 2. Are there any statements of evidence that 8. How did Prime Minister Trudeau react to the don’t make sense to you? Why don’t they verdict? make sense? 9. How did Indigenous people and 3. If you were a lawyer, what questions would communities react to the verdict? you have wanted to ask the witnesses? After Viewing 4. What expert witnesses do you think were called in this trial and for what purposes? 1. Do you think the verdict was fair and just? 5.