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Wawatay News JUNE 27, 2013
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NAN applauds Appeal Court decision on juries Rick Garrick Wawatay News
Nishnawbe Aski Nation is applauding a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision that overturned a First Nations man’s manslaughter conviction over unfair jury representation. “Today, the Ontario Court of Appeal delivered a clear message to the Ontario government,� said Julian Falconer, counsel for NAN on the appeal. “It called the government’s efforts to meet its constitutional obligation to include First Nations people on Ontario juries ‘sorely lacking.’� Falconer said that the court found the provincial government’s efforts to create representative juries relied
almost exclusively on a “junior bureaucrat,� who was given neither training nor supervision. He added that the government ignored a “known and worsening problem, year after year.� “The Ontario government has run out of excuses,� Falconer said. “It needs to take immediate and urgent steps to repair its relationships with First Nations’ governments to address head-on the problem of Aboriginal estrangement from the justice system.� The 2-1 R. v. Kokopenace decision by Justices H.S. LaForme and S.T. Goudge, with Justice Paul Rouleau dissenting, called for the introduction of fresh evidence and a new trial for Clifford Koko-
penace, who was convicted of the 2008 stabbing death of a
were significant deficiencies in the process by which the roll
“The Ontario government has run out of excuses. It needs to take immediate and urgent steps to repair its relationships with First Nations’ governments to address head-on the problem of Aboriginal estrangement from the justice system.� -Julian Falconer
friend in Grassy Narrows. “The violation is the state’s failure to provide Aboriginal on-reserve residents with a fair opportunity to be included in the jury roll,� LaForme said in his June 14 decision. “A disproportionately low number of Aboriginal on-reserve residents on a jury panel is not, in itself, necessarily evidence that there
was created. It is the detailed record assembled for the first time that demonstrates the state’s failure.� LaForme considered the First Nations Representation on Ontario Juries report by former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci as fresh evidence for his analysis. Delivered this past February
in Thunder Bay, the report included 17 recommendations to ensure enhanced representation on the jury roll. “NAN has been pursuing the issue of the exclusion of our people from the Ontario jury for many years,� said Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler. “We were stonewalled by the government and had to take this to the courts. The Ontario Court of Appeal has now delivered two judgments declaring that the exclusion of First Nations people is a wrong that must be righted.� Fiddler said the Iacobucci Report provides a roadmap on how to resolve the jury roll issue. “It will require respectful Nation-to-Nation negotia-
tions,� Fiddler said. “We are hopeful that the Ontario government will now see that this is the way forward.� NAN began its efforts to secure a review of the jury roll issue following revelations during the Kashechewan Inquest in 2008 that the Kenora Judicial District jury roll only contained names from 14 of NAN’s 49 communities. In March 2011, NAN and two First Nation families won a landmark Court of Appeal judgment recognizing that Coroner’s juries were required to be representative of First Nations People. The court also ordered the coroner to conduct an inquiry into the validity of the jury roll for the Thunder Bay Judicial District.
Fiddler to co-chair jury review implementation committee Rick Garrick Wawatay News
Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler has been appointed co-chair of Ontario’s recently announced Jury Review Implementation Committee. “I know it’s going to be a lot of work — it’s a real challenge to try to fix a system that hasn’t worked for a long time,� Fiddler said. “I think the key is who else is going to be there, so that’s going to be the next step is to consider some potential candidates who will make up the committee.� Irwin Glasberg, Ontario’s assistant deputy attorney general, was also appointed as a co-chair. “(We) will be meeting
shortly to look at some potential candidates and consult some people and present the names of who we feel would make a real contribution to the (committee),� Fiddler said. “According to the Iacobucci Report and also the statements that have been made by the province, I think what we are looking for is a substantial First Nation representation on this committee.� Fiddler and Glasberg are responsible for providing advice on the selection of committee members, which is expected to be made up of First Nations leaders, public servants and others in the justice sector. The committee is expected to be established later this
summer after committee members are selected. “Deputy Grand Chief Fiddler’s expertise and passion for improving our justice system in Aboriginal communities make him a tremendous asset to the implementation committee,� said Attorney General John Gerretsen. “By working together as partners, I’m confident we can find timely and effective solutions to address the under-representation of First Nations people on juries.� The Ontario government committed to establishing the committee after it was recommended in the First Nations Representation on Ontario Juries report, delivered this past February by former
Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci. “The release of the Hon. Frank Iacobucci’s report on the jury roll was a key first step towards ensuring that First Nations are adequately represented in the Ontario justice system and I will be pleased to assist with the next vital steps in this process,� Fiddler said. “I look forward to working to ensure that the recommendations of Justice Iacobucci’s report are implemented in a way that truly addresses the crisis of First Nations in the justice system.� The Ministry of the Attorney General also committed to implement Iacobucci’s recommendation to establish an
Rick Garrick/Wawatay News
Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler has been appointed to co-chair Ontario’s recently announced jury review implementation committee. advisory group to provide the attorney general with advice
on broader justice issues affecting First Nations. This committee will likely be established by this fall. Iacobucci was appointed to report on First Nation representation on Ontario jury rolls in August 2011 following court decisions questioning the validity of jury rolls with respect to representation by First Nations. In addition to the implementation committee and advisory group recommendations, the report also called for the Ministry of the Attorney General to conduct studies on legal representation, policing issues and a review of the Aboriginal Court Worker program, for input by the implementation committee.
First Nation Communities t t t t t t t t t
Kitchi-Miigwetch to the following Aboriginal Community Partners and the Local Community Coordinators for the 2012 – 2013 academic year!
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The CBM 106 Integrated Community Experience (ICE) is a four-week placement in April/May of medical students’ first academic year at NOSM. The learning module has been designed to provide medical student with a culturally immersive experience and to learn about Aboriginal Peoples and Aboriginal health by living and learning in an Aboriginal community. The placement provides first-year students with direct exposure to various Aboriginal communities in Northern Ontario. By living and learning in the community, students are exposed to the realities of life and health-care delivery in Aboriginal communities. Immersion in these remote, rural Aboriginal communities broadens students’ cultural awareness and strengthens their communications skills. These are integral skills for effective medical practise in Northern Ontario.
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Constance Lake First Nation Deer Lake First Nation Eagle Lake First Nation Fort Severn First Nation Lac La Croix First Nation Naicatchewenin First Nation (Northwest Bay First Nation) Gizhewaadiziwin Couchiching FN Kingfisher Lake First Nation Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (Big Trout Lake) Lac Seul First Nation Muskrat Dam First Nation Naotkamegwanning First Nation (Whitefish Bay First Nation) Nibinamik First Nation (Summer Beaver) Sandy Lake First Nation Atikameksheng Anishnabek (Whitefish Lake First Nation) Attawapiskat First Nation Brunswick House First Nation Mattagami First Nation M’Chigeeng First Nation Mississauga First Nation Nipissing First Nation Ojibways of Batchewana First Nation Ojibways of Pic Rivers First Nation Sagamok Anishnawbek Serpent River First Nation Temagami First Nation Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation
Aboriginal Health Centers and Organizations t Mnaamodzawin Health Services, Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation t Timmins MÊtis Nation of Ontario (MNO) t Thunder Bay MÊtis Nation of Ontario (MNO) t Dilico Fort William First Nation t Waasegiizhig Nanaadawe’iyewigamig (Kenora Area Health Access Center)
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