On Aug. 9, 2016, Colten Boushie died.  A 22-year-old Cree man was shot in his SUV on Saskatchewan farm of Gerald Stanley. Stanley was charged with second-degree murder in Boushie’s death and could have been found guilty of murder or manslaughter.  The fact that on February 9th, 2018, a jury, comprised entirely of visibly non-Indigenous people, found Gerald Stanley not guilty has fueled protests and anger across the country. 

As, Senator Murray Sinclair wrote in his poem about the Boushie case, 

I may grieve for some time.
But then again…
we have been grieving a long time.
This is why
we can’t “just get over it and move on”.
My country won’t let me.

  Here are five tools to continue to fight for justice:

1) Discuss this case:  Idle No More has put together a great discussion guide help you continue the discussion and Media Indigena has a series of podcasts in How to Listen which are in depth discussions about issues like how Indigenous victims are put on trial and how Indigenous people are excluded from juries.

2) Demand an immediate appeal and inquiry:  Both Leadnow and Change.org have petitions demanding an appeal of the verdict and a public inquiry into how the Stanley trial was administered.  Leadnow’s petition is addressed to the provincial and federal government while Change.org is addressed to the Supreme Court of Canada. 

3) Support changes to the Canada Criminal Code:  The Boushie family was on Parliament Hill meeting with Justin Trudeau and many high level government officials, like Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould who promised that reforms are coming to address the concerns raised by community leaders and the family, but gave no timeline as to when the changes would be made.  The government has been stalling on many issues concerning First Nations communities, and we need to ensure action is taken.   

4) Support the Boushie family: There is a campaign to raise support the Boushie family.  Donate here. 

5) Stand against money being for Gerald Stanley:  The campaign to support the Stanley family has raised more money than the fundraiser for the Boushie family.  There is an effort to demand that GoFundMe take down this page and return the money, but GoFundMe has used the not guilty verdict as a reason to refuse this demand.