Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 1, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press october 1989 Page 7 sir i am to say the to hear and read about inspector Ken Dowson i am an aboriginal and have been a police Man i would like to think i have some knowledge of police proce dures in any but be fore i say i express my condolences to the Dowson i do not know these but that does not what i want to write about is qualities that everyone has whether we Are Yel or All of us Are possessed with if we know or Are afraid something is about to expose something that we hold dear to our we either stay and fight or we simply run away from it if my memory serves me it was the City lawyers who suggested calling the late inspector i guess my theory is it appears the Winnipeg police department is human after by pointing fingers at the aboriginal Justice the Winnipeg police department is run Ning instead of saying there Are All the documents to substantiate that everything was done to investigate the Harper but the association is continually trying to impede the process by trying to find loopholes to escape the True the news Media also had a hand in the just the other Day when it was Learned that inspector Dowson committed one re Porter appeared on television blatantly pointing fingers at the aboriginal Justice and All the aboriginal Justice inquiry is after is the John constant the Pas Indian band remarkable having followed the aboriginal Justice inquiry Over the past few months in the it was an insightful exercise to attend the hear Ings on the witness of the of was police consta ble Robert what was most remarkable about Constable Cross testimony was his inability to recall details of the events which took place that March night in 1988 when Harper was shot and under questioning from lawyers for the Island Lake tribal Council and the Harper it was apparent that Cross was unable to account Ftfe Why he waited some 39 seconds before calling for assistance after Harper was shot Why certain racist comments attributed to him in a National news Magazine article were reported by his former adolescent chum Why he stopped Harper the night of the shoot this last Point could be deemed a Central Issue surrounding harpers it is Clear that Cross had no Legal justification to question or attempt to Stop Harper that fateful 1 hate to that the police practice of stopping persons who Are suspect visible Minori ties or persons of unorthodox appearance is All too it is simply unfair that the police continue to flout the Law in their attempts to Advance investigations or harass less powerful members of if Cross had not stepped outside the boundaries of what should be an entrenched part of our civil then Harper might still be with Brian Gorlick convenient circumstances in and around the aboriginal Justice inquiry Point out How convenient it is that members of our police Force take the heat for All of us when they Mirror the values most of our society communicates consider your own Bob Upton Winnipeg persecution the aboriginal Justice inquiry was designed to see whether prejudice about indians affects the administration of Justice in this is a valid hypothesis and it is Worth discussion and while the premise of the argument is it is obviously a thinly disguised attempt by the native Community to have their Day in court with Constable Robert the Constitution of Canada provides that any person charged with an offence has the right not to be compelled to be a witness in proceedings against to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to the Law if finally acquitted of an not to be tried for it the inquiry Board easily Side Steps these constitutional rights by calling Constable Cross not As an accused but As a witness to suspected injustices towards natives by the Law enforcement commune Constable Cross now becomes a compel Lable witness against him self and must testify for the if the argument was solely that there is prejudice within the Law enforcement Community towards Why not Call any officer under oath to the inquiry and ask them is there prejudice natives by the police department Are you prejudiced towards natives do you treat natives differently than nonnative Why do you think natives Are overrepresented in our provinces jails and the list can go if the hypothesis of the argument is that the Law enforcement Community is prejudiced towards a should not an unbiased Selec Tion of Law enforcement officers have been made by the inquiry to establish randomness and thus not prejudice their own proceedings while Constable Cross was obviously singled out for his involvement in the tragic Harper Why didst the inquiry Board stick with the Issue at hand after three hear Ings and inquests already behind was not enough information gathered from Cross past Testi Mony As to the events of that fatal morning that it had to be rehashed for five hours in the full two Page quotation found in the free press on 2 regarding this where were the questions regarding racism and prejudice within the police department what seems most appalling about this inquiry is that it reminds us of the Witch trials in the Middle Ages the inquiry de that the Media who have Nam mered relentlessly at the police throughout the Aji could possibly be considered contributors to in Spector Dowson at the risk of being i would propose an inquiry into the Issue of journalistic there Are a few bugs to work out of this Foremost among these being who the Public could count on to report the facts of the Turenne Winnipeg wider sorrow it is very sad to read about inspector Dowson it is equally sad to reflect on similar deaths which have occurred on the reservations throughout this coun these deaths dont make the front in they Are usually if we Are learning anything from All lets Hope we finally see the futility of lies and deep we dont find the it finds us the results Are Greene prizewinner i am writing in response to your and particularly the head line police denied Harper first the Media is often accused of hyping and sensational izing a Story and you really get the the median Driver testified that an ambulance had been summoned and that no extra assistance was this would imply that assistance was indeed being Given contrary to your the median Driver indicated that he watched three or four officers work on Harper until a first responder and ambulance a testimony that contradicts your this is just Plain irresponsible Schur Saskatoon evidence gathered by police investigating the Harper killing is outraged when suspected witches were poked with pins until a spot could be found where it did not Hurt any thus establishing a Witch As witches did not feel further tests were done by throwing suspected witches in a body of if they Sank they were if they stayed afloat they were How Many times must Constable Cross be poked and prodded and thrown into the water has our jus Tice system progressed or re Gressed so far in 600 years that we must see the destruction of consta ble Cross before we decide on his innocence does every individual have Equality before and under the Law and have the right to equal Protection and Benefit of that Law without discrimination perhaps we should look in our own Back and ask Constable Cross Jacques liberte Winnipeg a shame Harper would be alive today if he had just identified cant the natives brother let his brother rest in Only Are they turning people against them but now they have blood on their hands in causing a police officer to take his own what a Winnipeg sensationalism in your editorial of 22 september you state that Public in quiries Are a Normal and necessary Way to get answers to important Public you Are Cor one of the most important questions facing the Public in Light of the aboriginal Justice inquiry is whether the Media have reported the sensationalized the or invented the the aforementioned editorial is a Good Case in you state that chief Stephen announced that the inquiry was the cause of the unless we were watching two different news you have invented fact what i heard chief Stephen say was that the inquiry had played a role in the there is no simple semantical Dif Ference you state that mayor Norrie Drew the conclusion that the inquiry had gone on too Iong while this is True you imply that the mayor said this Only after inspector Dowson in nor Rie had made the same statement on the saturday prior to the Sui cide another fact which the free press chose not to the free not the Only questionable medium during his interview with Barbarba Frum on abcs the journal on wednes Day september Csc reporter Robert Enright expressed amazement and incredulity that the police should have been opposed to an Aji inquiry into harpers he neglected to of that this was the fourth inquiry into the same and that police could hardly have expected fair treatment from As harsh and hostile an inquisitor As the Aji has shown itself to the same Enright who is supposedly so knowledgeable about the Aji that he is writing a Book about it was equally dumb found we Are outraged by the recent comments made by police chief Stephen and mayor Bill Norrie about the tragic death of inspector to blame the aboriginal Justice inquiry for this tragedy and to make comments that there May be More victims is a thinly disguised Way of blaming native peo ple in general for the troubles with in the police the heat is on and the response is for mayor Norrie to suggest that the inquiry hurry and get it Over with is another angry native people have waited for Over a Hundred years for an honest look at the Justice meted out to canadians All across the country Are watching As the Manitoba aboriginal Justice inquiry is being thwarted at every we commend the patience and strength of justices Sinclair and Hamilton and All of the we know their determination to find the truth about the investigation into the tragic deaths of Betty of Bome and Harper will set a glowing precedent in Canadian jus Slowikowski Campbell and Jenny Milner Winnipeg grits hit pork barrel but nip saves tory Bacon Sci r t based on what seems to be the official nip the Bill creat ing the fiscal stabilization fund will be but if the liberals have their it will not occur in the foreseeable composed of million Cour Tesy of provincial Federal trans Fer payments and mining tax reve nue the fund was supposed to be the Gem in the last the government saw it As a major new thrust which would create a More stable and responsible fiscal plan Ning once a in conjunction with the it would dip into the fund for a specific Pur this for million would be taken out for tax insisted the Gem was instead of using the Windfall Revenue to bring in a balanced they believed the government was placing it into a slush fund which would ultimately be used for political therefore during debate last critic Richard Kozak said it was under the dome Arlene Billinkoff entirely and unequivocally Unac if it was not withdrawn at the earliest his party would be honoured to stand up and vote against new democrats were also concerned about How the fund would be unlike the did not believe creating a fiscal Cushion was necessarily a bad As Jerry Storie if the nip could be assured in committee that there Are no possibilities of this fund being manipulated for strictly political purposes at some than i be Lieve that it May be it All depended on answers provided during the committee but they could not get to commit tee until the Bill passed second read ing and Liberal reluctance to take that step ensured the legislation remained in limbo during the unhappy with that the Premier and finance minister warned thai if the opposition continued to Block passage when the ses Sion the tax benefits would be in because the fund was tied to the such action might also cause an were the critics willing to take that risk the liberals were the fund simply is not going to be sup said Sharon new seemed to have conflicting while Gary doer indicated his party would sup port the finance critic Len Evans saw no reason for the govern ment to tie the tax Cut to the Bill and believed it should be no there was considerable discussion in the nip caucus about the matter because during the first two Days when the Bill was consid ered after the none of them for the official it was an Opportunity to explain to the Public Why they opposed this not Only does the creation of this fund run roughshod Over Good accounting principles and it seriously threatens the principle of responsible intoned Mark who seemed to for get his leaders Resolution which attempted to remove government responsibility in Gwen Charles insisted the tories merely wanted to put which had been obtained through Luck and and imposed into a sock to be used for their own Why were they not serving the people she until they understood Why they had been she did not believe they deserved to be in it is irresponsible to place Money in such a fund when it is needed for social programs and reduction of the debt added John while he was not opposed to tax he was More in favor of fiscal responsibility and was prepared to argue that position on the within the next 12 the liberals May have that but an election will not be precipitated by this on the third Day of debate Jay Cowan the new democratic party is going to sup port this legislation despite some very serious concerns about the motivation behind it and possible ways in which it May be implement the nip does not like the Legisla it is More subterfuge than substance and really is a slush designed More out of political Neces sity than Good financial manage Cowan nevertheless defeating it would be harmful be cause the million would disappear into consolidated revenues of last year and Hurt those who could he hoped the liberals would in but doubted that would occur because a lust for Power was clouding their vision and they did not understand what they were did they not realize that by opposing the they were voting to eliminate tax cuts he wanted to ensure the liberals had full knowledge of the consequences of their action so they could not claim ignorance in the while the fund is badly flawed and cynically it would serve a useful purpose if the government rethinks its Cowan the nip wanted it to be used for specific needs whenever they rather than once a even if the government refused to How the party would support the Bill because it was a vote for the for that position was More proof that the nip is afraid of facing the the desperation of the dismal dozen is said Harold his party lacked Confidence in this government and had no intention of supporting the fund in its present the comments Are pure bravado because the liberals know they can not defeat the Bill on their the should not while new democrats have no in Tention of defeating the government on this they have not ruled out a United opposition somewhere Down the ;