Deaths of eight Indigenous people during altercations with police prompt calls for better accountability

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The deaths of eight Indigenous people involved in incidents with police since the end of August have leaders across the country calling for improved accountability and oversight in law enforcement.Police oversight agencies in multiple jurisdictions are investigating the deaths, most of which involved people who were shot and killed, including a 15-year-old boy in Wetaskiwin, Alta. Parliament held an emergency debate last Monday after news coverage of six of the deaths, and two additional cases have since come to light.

The deaths of eight Indigenous people involved in incidents with police since the end of August have leaders across the country calling for improved accountability and oversight in law enforcement.
Police oversight agencies in multiple jurisdictions are investigating the deaths, most of which involved people who were shot and killed, including a 15-year-old boy in Wetaskiwin, Alta. Parliament held an emergency debate last Monday after news coverage of six of the deaths, and two additional cases have since come to light.
“The reality is Indigenous people are at greater peril if they have an interaction with police than other groups,” Aboriginal Legal Services legal director Christa Big Canoe, from Georgina Island First Nation, located on Lake Simcoe north of Toronto, said in an interview.
“Very often it could be de-escalated, there could’ve been alternatives, and when they are shot the oversight is almost nothing.”

She said it should be shocking that so many Indigenous people died at the hands of police during such a short time, but she said that, unfortunately, these clusters have become the norm. Ms. Big Canoe, who was lead commission counsel for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, said the 2019 report included various calls to justice on policing, but the number that have been implemented on a national standard level is almost non-existent.
“We are seeing some positive steps over time, but it always feels like too little too late.”
The parliamentary debate last Monday focused on six deaths:

The parliamentary debate last Monday focused on six deaths:
** Jack Charles Piche, a 31-year-old Dene father of two, was struck and killed by an RCMP cruiser on a rural road in Northwestern Saskatchewan on Aug. 29;

** Hoss Lightning, a 15-year-old boy from Samson Cree Nation in Alberta, was shot and killed by RCMP during a confrontation on Aug. 30;

** Tammy Bateman, a 30-year-old Anishinaabe mother, died after being hit by a Winnipeg police cruiser near an encampment on Sept. 2;

** Jason West, a 57-year-old man, was shot and killed by Windsor police on Sept. 6;

** Daniel Knife, a 31-year-old Cree man, was shot and killed by RCMP during a reported armed standoff in Central Saskatchewan on Sept. 8;

** Steven “Iggy” Dedam, a 34-year-old Mi’kmaq man, was shot and killed by RCMP in New Brunswick on Sept. 8.

** In addition, Ron Skunk, a 59-year-old Anishinaabe man from Mishkeegogamang, died in hospital on Sept. 14 after going into medical distress after his arrest in Pickle Lake by Ontario Provincial Police;

** and Jon Wells, a 42-year-old Blackfoot man, died after being tasered by a Calgary police officer on Sept. 17.