Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 4, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2024 A4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I TOP NEWS New treaty officer long overdue in Canada I F Canadians are to know the true extent to which the federal govern- ment has reneged on treaties with Indigenous people, it might come from a new parliamentary treaty commis- sioner. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau an- nounced Thursday the federal govern- ment will create a new commissioner for modern treaty implementation. It was a significant announcement. The new commissioner, whose man- date is being negotiated with Indige- nous leaders, will report directly to Parliament, not government. That’s an important factor. Indepen- dent officers who report to Parliament, such as auditors general, are not con- trolled by government. They have the authority and independence to freely criticize government and its policies. Canada has never had an indepen- dent officer to oversee the implementa- tion of treaties with Indigenous people. This is a first, and it’s long overdue. To say that Canada has reneged on many of its treaty obligations since the country was founded in 1867 is an understatement. Canada recognizes 70 “historic” treaties signed between 1701 and 1923, either by the British Crown prior to Confederation or by Canada. Those include the 11 numbered trea- ties negotiated post-Confederation be- tween 1871 and 1921. The first (Treaty 1) was negotiated in the summer of 1871 at Lower Fort Garry, between the Crown and First Nations and covers what is now southern Manitoba. Since 1975, the federal government has signed 26 “modern” treaties with Indigenous communities across Can- ada. The agreements usually include land-claim settlements and provisions for self-government. Much like historic contracts though, government has failed to comply with the terms of some modern treaties and has not been held accountable. That could soon change. The new commissioner is expected to report regularly to Parliament and will issue annual reports on govern- ment’s treaty record. For the first time, Canadians will get an indepen- dent, impartial assessment of how well, or how poorly, the federal government is meeting its obligations. That’s important because much of that information has flown under the radar in Canada over the past 153 years. Most Canadians likely don’t even know what treaties are, much less whether government has hon- oured them. How can the public hold government accountable for something it knows so little about? A treaty commissioner could change that. To be fully effective, though, the commissioner should also be given the mandate to review and report on historic — not just modern — agree- ments. Canada can’t have an intelligent discussion about reconciliation unless it has the information it needs to do so. The issues are not cut and dried. There are conflicting interpretations of historic treaties, including whether First Nations ceded the land the Crown claims they did. Many elders, through oral history, maintain their territo- ries were never ceded. The federal government claims the opposite, but recognizes there are conflicting inter- pretations. “Canada and First Nations often have differing views with respect to the implementation of historic trea- ties,” the Government of Canada states on its treaty rights web page. “These issues are complex and are not easily resolved.” The federal government also ac- knowledges its role in the failure to honour historic treaties. “Over many centuries these rela- tionships were eroded by colonial and paternalistic policies that were enacted into laws,” the government’s web page states. Most of this information is obscure to average Canadians. It hasn’t been taught in schools, at least not fully and accurately, and it has not been top of mind in modern Canadian political culture. The appointment of a modern treaty commissioner could be a game-chang- er for Canada and its renewed commit- ment to reconciliation. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca Trial to begin hearing evidence Wednesday Accused serial killer to face jury: judge THE case against a Winnipeg man ac- cused of murdering four Indigenous women will be heard by a jury, a judge has ruled. The ruling paves the way for a jury selected last week to begin hearing evi- dence in his trial beginning next Wed- nesday. Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the May 2022 slayings of three Indigen- ous women — Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois and Marcedes Myran — as well as a fourth unidentified woman who was killed in March 2022. She has been named Buffalo Woman (Mashko- de Bizhiki’ikwe) by Indigenous leaders. Skibicki’s lawyers have said they will argue that he should be found not crim- inally responsible for the slayings by reason of mental disorder. In a motion heard this week, Skibicki’s defence team argued extensive media coverage of the case has biased the jury pool to the extent that he would not receive a fair trial unless tried by a judge alone. In Canada, the Crimin- al Code mandates that absent consent by the Crown, murder trials are to be heard by a jury. “I have concluded based on the gov- erning jurisprudence and the evidence before me that this is not the clearest of cases requiring me to override Crown discretion,” King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said Friday. “As a result, the defence motion is dismissed.” Dr. Christine Ruva, a U.S. psychol- ogy professor and expert on the issue of jury bias, testified for the defence that pre-trial media attention creates unconscious bias in a jury pool that is unlikely to be corrected by judicial safeguards and trial processes. Ruva worked with Skibicki’s defence team on a February poll that found 73 per cent of respondents who were aware of the case said they had a nega- tive impression of Skibicki and 61 per cent said they had an opinion as to his guilt. Of those who said they had an opinion on guilt, 90 per cent expressed the opinion he was guilty. Of the 14 jurors (including two alter- nates) selected last week for Skibicki’s trial, nine said they were aware of the case and five said they were not. Joyal said he gave “limited weight” to Ruva’s testimony, citing her lack of experience and knowledge about the Canadian court system and her “ap- parent rigid position” that exposure to pre-trial publicity will inevitably lead to bias that is nearly impossible to over- come. “Not only is that position not sup- ported in Canadian jurisprudence, it appears to exist in contradiction” to the evidence of pollster and defence wit- ness Quito Maggi, who agreed under questioning that a juror’s opinion could change over time if provided new infor- mation, Joyal said. Canadian courts have numerous safe- guards to address juror bias, Joyal said, including screening at the selection stage, rules of evidence, instructions on the law and repeated reminders to base their verdicts only on the evidence. “A (juror) faces a heightened civic responsibility when he, she or they take the juror’s oath,” Joyal said. “It is the awareness and conscious- ness of this heightened responsibility which, in part, nourishes the presump- tion of impartiality. While it is expected that jurors, much like judges, are shaped by their lived experience — in- cluding the media they digest — in the Canadian judicial system we believe jurors are able to rise to the heightened expectation required of the role in or- der to ensure a fair trial is provided to a person.” Joyal’s ruling won’t change how Skibicki’s defence team handles the case, lawyer Leonard Tailleur said out- side court. “Onwards and upwards we go to the jury trial,” he said. dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca DEAN PRITCHARD TOM BRODBECK OPINION Red Dress Alert ‘a historic moment’ M ANITOBA will be home to Can- ada’s first Red Dress Alert sys- tem, which will notify the pub- lic when an Indigenous woman, girl, two-spirit or gender-diverse person is reported missing. The province was selected as the primary location for the pilot project — a partnership led by the federal and Manitoba governments, and Indigenous grassroots organizations — because, in part, it is the epicentre of the national MMIWG2S+ crisis. “This is a historic moment, and a major step towards ending the crisis of missing and murdered Indigen- ous women, girls and gender-diverse people,” said NDP MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre), who pressed the federal government to create an alert system and led a study that heard from survivors, families and grassroots lead- ers. “While we celebrate this historic moment, it is critical we remember that our work is not done until a Red Dress Alert is no longer needed. “Safety from violence is a fundamen- tal human right. It’s also critical we do everything we can to end the ongoing genocide against Indigenous women and girls, 2SLGBTQIA+ people.” It remains unclear when the system will be up and running to help locate those reported missing. The criteria for alerts are to be developed, officials said at a news conference in Winnipeg Fri- day, ahead of Red Dress Day on Sunday. Manitoba’s minister for women and gender equity, Nahanni Fontaine, said it will be a community-based project developed, in part, by advocates who work on the front lines of the crisis. While Manitoba is “ground zero,” it is also leading efforts to end the crisis, she said. “Establishing a Red Dress Alert sig- nals to Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited that their lives matter — that we are putting in the effort and the resources and the co-ordination that, should they go missing, your life mat- ters and here’s our response to that,” said Fontaine, chair of the province’s MMIWG2S+ and gender-based vio- lence committee of cabinet. Ottawa has budgeted $1.3 million over three years to develop a regional system — an amount met with some criticism. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said it’s a “starting point.” The goal is to develop a national sys- tem. “A public alerting system is not the solution to the crisis of violence. We have to do more,” said Anandasanga- ree. “Even if it saves one life, it would have been worth it.” Fontaine said the province will also provide money for the Manitoba sys- tem. Similar state-wide systems exist in California and Washington. Anandasangaree said fundamental questions, such as the role of police or what if a missing person is safe and doesn’t want to be found, have to be an- swered while developing a system that is trusted and appropriate for Mani- toba. More than a dozen pre-engagement sessions were held last winter. They were co-led by Gazan, two other Win- nipeg women — Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, chair of the National Family and Sur- vivors Circle, and Sandra Delaronde, co-chair of the Manitoba MMIWG2S+ Coalition — and Ontario MP Pam Damoff. “(The system) says to society that we matter, that our voices are being heard,” said Anderson-Pyrz. It must include wraparound supports that are readily available, she noted. “It has to come from the experts who are on the front lines, and families and survivors and two-spirit and gender-di- verse people who have the lived experi- ence to guide this work,” said Ander- son-Pyrz. During the winter sessions, partici- pants cited a need for accountability to ensure alerts are followed up on by po- lice, she added. There were calls to ensure remote communities have proper infra- structure to connect to the system and receive alerts. “We need those alerts to go out and to go out immediately, and to be effective as well,” said Anderson-Pyrz. At the news conference in Fontaine’s office, speakers acknowledged the dec- ades of activism and advocacy, and the families and communities affected by the crisis. They stood in front of a large quilt which had the names of some of the In- digenous women and girls who’ve gone missing or been slain. Indigenous women and girls are six times more likely to be a victim of homicide than non-Indigenous women and girls, according to a recent Statis- tics Canada study. In 2019, a national inquiry into MMI- WG found Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be slain or to go missing. The inquiry produced 231 calls for justice. Few have been completed. Last year, MPs unanimously adopted Gazan’s motion to recognize MMIW- G2S+ as a Canada-wide emergency. Anandasangaree acknowledged more work is necessary to provide supports for mental health, substance abuse, housing and empowering Indigenous cultural and language “revitalization.” He said Ottawa has a national path- way to respond to the calls. Manitoba’s government has budgeted $20 million this year for a provincial MMIWG2S+ strategy. The announcement of an alert sys- tem was held across the street from the Law Courts Building, where a jury will begin hearing evidence Wednesday in the trial of a Winnipeg man accused of killing four Indigenous women. Jeremy Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Rebecca Con- tois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an unidentified woman who was given the name Buffalo Woman (Mash- kode Bizhiki’ikwe) by First Nations community members. chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca Ottawa has budgeted $1.3 million to develop regional system CHRIS KITCHING MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan speaks at the announcement of a Red Dress Alert system at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Friday. FACEBOOK Jeremy Skibicki, 35, faces four counts of first-degree murder. ;