Indigenous representation needed in RCMP investigations: Bobby Cameron
After an RCMP investigation found no misconduct in the way officers interacted with the family of Colten Boushie on the night of the young man’s death, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is calling for better First Nations representation in criminal investigations.
Following Boushie’s shooting death on a Saskatchewan farm in 2016, the young man’s family filed a complaint alleging they were mistreated by RCMP investigators. According to RCMP, the complaint from Boushie’s mother Debbie Baptiste said she felt the investigation “seemed out of the ordinary and intensive.” The mother claimed an officer told her to “get it together” after she learned of her son’s death and collapsed, and later asked if she’d been drinking.
Although the RCMP Supt. Mike Gibbs apologized for the intensive nature of the investigation, he wrote in an Oct. 19 report that none of the officers engaged in unacceptable behaviour, and their response was “tactical in nature.”
FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said racism exists within the ranks of the RCMP, and better Indigenous representation is required in order to ensure equal treatment under the law.