INTERESTING NEWS Canada’s Oldest First Nations Newspaper - Serving Nuu-chah-nulth-aht since 1974 Canadian Publications Mail Product Vol. 48 - No. 11—June 3, 2021 haas^i>sa Sales Agreement No. 40047776
Photo by Eric Plummer
Two girls leave shoes on the Highway 4 bridge over the Somass River in Port Alberni on May 31, recognizing the recently discovered remains of 215 children who were buried at the former site of the Kamloops Indian Residential school. Vigils and gatherings are being held throughout B.C. to mark the news, Story on page 5.
No charges laid one year after Chantel Moore was shot News expected June 7 on possibility of changes, half a year after investigators’ recommendations sent to Crown By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Edmundston, New Brunswick – It’s been nearly one year since the shooting death of Tla-o-qui-aht’s Chantel Moore during a wellness check in her Edmundston, NB apartment, and the family continues to wait for answers. Moore’s mother, Martha Martin, lives with her husband in Edmundston. The couple are raising their granddaughter, Gracie, who was the daughter of Chantel Moore. Born in Edmundston, Moore, age 26, lived most of her life on Vancouver Island and was a member of Tla-o-quiaht First Nation. A few months before her death, she returned to Edmundston to be closer to her mother and six-year-old daughter. In the weeks leading up to her death, Moore had moved into her own apartment. It was a second story walk-up behind a business front. In the early morning hours of June 4, 2020, Martha was woken from her sleep by a police officer knocking on her door. According to Martha, the lone police officer said he was looking for Chantel after receiving a call from the young woman’s
boyfriend. The boyfriend, who was in Montreal, is said to have told the police that he had been receiving troubling text messages from Chantel complaining that someone was bothering her and that she was scared. “He called New Brunswick police with his concerns and they went to Martha’s looking for her,” said Grace Frank, Martha’s mother. According to Martha, the Edmundston Police Force officer, whom she now knows was Jeremy Son, was performing a wellness check on Chantel. Chantel had just moved out of her mother’s home a few days before. Martha gave the officer her daughter’s new address – an apartment in downtown Edmundston, just a few minutes away. At nearly 3 a.m. police returned to Martha’s home, this time to deliver devastating news. They told Martha that her daughter had been shot and killed. “Around 2:30 a.m., the Edmundston Police Force received a request to check on the well-being of a woman at an apartment building on Hill Street in Edmundston. The responding police officer was confronted at the scene by a woman holding a knife who made threats,” reads a statement from the Edmundston Police
Inside this issue... Tla-o-qui-aht looks forward to reopening..................Page 3 Arrests continue at logging blockades....................Page 6-9 Students with learning barriers gain job skills.........Page 10 Stats show drug crisis deadlier for First Nations......Page 11 ‘Going the distance’ with a totem pole.....................Page 15
Force issued later that day. The family said she was shot five times. Within a few weeks, Const. Jeremy Son returned to work, having been placed on administrative leave. He remains on administrative duties pending a decision by the Public Prosecutions Services on whether to lay charges against him. The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes was asked to investigate the incident since New Brunswick doesn’t have its own police watchdog agency. Its findings were completed late last year but were not released to the public. They were submitted to the Crown in December where they will be reviewed and prosecutors will decide whether or not to proceed with criminal charges against the officer. Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Councillor Moses Martin told Ha-Shilth-Sa that he expects to hear within the next few days what will happen with the case. “Whether or not he (Son) will be charged…probably not,” said Moses. Martha confirms that they are expecting news on June 7, when she will meet with Lawyer T.J. Burke, who is representing Moore’s family. Martha said these last few weeks have been absolutely chaotic. “I’ve been on phone all week,” she said.
Martha has spent the past year caring for her granddaughter Gracie, whom she says is traumatized by the loss of her mother and is need of constant reassurance. “She’s terrified of cops,” said Martha, adding that the child will visibly begin shaking, crouching down in her seat when she sees police officers. “I tell her that not all cops are bad.” Martin has also been working tirelessly advocating for justice not only for Chantel, but also for other Indigenous people across Canada. Following Chantel’s death, two other Tla-o-qui-aht people were shot by police. Julian Jones in February and Melinda Martin in May. Moses Martin stated that Melinda has had her spine operated on twice and remains in an induced coma. Martha has been helping to organize yellow shirt and dress campaigns across the country, keeping demands for justice in the forefront. The color yellow was chosen because one of Chantel’s favorite sayings was ‘stay golden’. “But I don’t want to make this just about my daughter,” said Martha, adding that she wants to use the publicity to help other cases that are not getting the attention they deserve.
If undeliverable, please return to: Ha-Shilth-Sa P.O. Box 1383, Port Alberni, B.C. V9Y 7M2
