December 2, 2021—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 3
No wrongdoing found: Officer who shot Moore walks New Brunswick Police Commission finds “insufficient evidence” that policeman commi•ed a breach of conduct By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Edmundstun, N.B. – “We are a fair and independent civilian police oversight body,” reads the greeting page of the New Brunswick Police Commission, but friends and family of Chantel Moore beg to differ after learning the commission cited insufficient evidence as the reason that the police officer involved did not commit a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct Regulation. The Commission released its report Nov. 19. “The Commission has completed its review of the Police Act investigation conducted by an investigator appointed by the Commission and will take no further action as there is insufficient evidence that the officer committed a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct Regulation,” said Commission Chair Marc Léger in the report. In other words, they found there was no wrongdoing on the part of Jeremy Sun, the Edmundston Police Force officer who shot 26-year-old Chantel Moore to death during a June 4, 2020 wellness check. “They don’t protect us, they only protect themselves!” wrote Martha Martin, mother of Chantel Moore, in a social media post after the report was released. “Cops investigation(s) cannot be done by retired cops…. They will never arrest their own!” The June 4, 2020 shooting death drew national attention after it was learned that Moore, a mother of a young daughter, had lost her life during a wellness check. She was, according to police testimony, asleep on her sofa in plain view of the police officer who went to check on her safety in response to a call from a concerned friend. Moore had been drinking with friends at her apartment hours earlier. By the time the police officer arrived at her thirdstory walk-up apartment, Moore’s friend had gone home. The officer alleged that when he woke Moore by pounding on her window, she retrieved something from the kitchen counter and went to the door. He said she was holding a blanket around herself with one hand while wielding a knife with the other. The officer told investigators that she refused to drop the knife after repeated, loud commands in French, and was advancing toward him in a threatening manner. Moore suffered multiple gunshot
Submitted photo
Chantel Moore, 26, was fatally shot during a police wellness check on June 4, 2020. wounds and died on scene. called ‘justice system’ in Canada fail“This finding of no misconduct is outra- ing First Nations peoples,” said NTC geous,” said NTC President Judith SayVice-President Mariah Charleson. “We ers. “They and the Crown basically say cannot forget that Chantel was murdered it is ok to shoot an Indigenous woman and shot numerous times on a ‘wellness four times if the officer feels his life was check’ by an on-duty policeman. When endangered. That it is reasonable force. we see no accountability from these horHow can that be considered reasonable? rendous actions that have led to the loss A large officer against a small woman of precious life, it tells the whole world cannot disarm her? And has to shoot her that young First Nations women’s lives that many times?” don’t matter, which couldn’t be further “The systemic discrimination in the from the truth.” system is rampant and must be changed Charleson pointed to the final report on for justice for Chantel and other First the National Inquiry into Missing and Nations people,” Sayers added. “We need Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. big changes to police acts and complaints Its 231 calls to justice have yet to be procedures. We need Indigenous peoples implemented, she said. involved in the complaints procedures.” “When we see Canada’s lack of re“This is yet another example of the so sponse to these imperative calls to justice,
we are seeing a country continue to inflict genocide on our precious women, girls, 2 spirit +,” added Charleson. The NB Police Commission says it will not release its report to the public in accordance with their Privacy Act, Police Act, and other privacy rules. However, Léger, the commission’s chairman, noted the investigation’s policy and procedural review found issues outside the commission’s mandate. “The Coroner’s Inquest into Ms. Moore’s death may raise those issues as well and the commission is ready to fully cooperate with the coroner,” said Léger. Sayers says there will be a coroner’s inquest scheduled for February 2022. The purpose of the inquiry is not to find fault or wrongdoing, but the coroner can rule on the manner of death, whether it be homicide, suicide or accidental. The purpose of the coroner’s inquest is to investigate the circumstances of a death in order to prevent a similar tragedy in the future. According to Sayers, the Crown Special Investigators Report said it was homicide but that it was justified. She said the coroner’s inquest makes recommendations. “The recommendations from the Rodney Levi coroners inquiry were good. We can hope for the same,” she added. Rodney Levi, 48, was an Indigenous man shot by police in New Brunswick on June 12, 2020, just eight days after the death of Chantel Moore. The jury in the coroner’s inquest ruled his death a homicide rather than “suicide by cop” which a forensic suicide expert alleged at the trial. The coroner’s inquest jury in the Rodney Levi case presented recommendations, including the reinstatement of the Indigenous band constable program, as well as opening detox centres and more mental health services in First Nation communities. They also recommend that RCMP officers not be first responders during wellness checks but should be on standby. “We also hope for Justice of Chantel in other ways. Better and more de-escalation tactics. Trauma-informed teams used in wellness checks. More training for officers on respect and valuing Indigenous lives,” said Sayers. She went on to say that a civil lawsuit is likely the next step. On her Facebook page Martha Martin wrote, “I love you my girl, I will continue to fight for justice. Your life mattered.”
DFO pledges ‘continued prosperity’ for First Nations Continued from page 1. “DFO can adjust their numbers accordingly to the rest of the sectors.” During the AGM Tseshaht Chief Councillor Ken Watts noted that over the years the federal department has operated according to its own plans, regardless of what party holds power in Ottawa. “DFO is its own machine of government,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who is in power, what mandate has been put forward, they’re going to do whatever they want in DFO.” But part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s mandate is to “support Indigenous participation in fisheries,” a stake that ensures “continued prosperity”. “There remains no more important relationship to me and to Canada than the one with Indigenous Peoples,” stated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in his supplementary mandate letter sent to former
fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan in January. “You, and indeed all ministers, must continue to play a role in helping to advance self-determination, close socioeconomic gaps and eliminate systemic barriers facing First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. As minister, I expect you to work in full partnership with Indigenous Peoples and communities to advance meaningful reconciliation.” “All of the DFO policies since the ‘60s and ’70s have been put in place to get the Indian out of the water,” said Charleson. “It’s gotten so bad now that we have four commercial fishermen in all of Nuu-chahnulth who actually do it for a living.” A new mandate letter from the prime minister has not yet been publicized, but a formal invitation for Murray to meet with the Council of Ha’wiih Forum on Fisheries is expected in the coming weeks as the minister settles into her new role.
Photo by Eric Plummer
Tseshaht boats fish on the Somass River in September. The Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations harvested from the river this year according to an economic opportunity agreement with DFO, which totalled 32,248 chinook salmon by the end of the season.
