CANADIAN MEDIA VIEW
SASKATCHEWAN
Murray Mandryk: First Nations leader says violence all too predictable
Murray Mandryk -Leader Post
Former FSIN chief Sol Sanderson said the tragedy of James Smith Cree First Nation and Weldon was long in coming.
Murray Mandryk -Leader Post
Former FSIN chief Sol Sanderson said the tragedy of James Smith Cree First Nation and Weldon was long in coming.
Provided by Leader Post
The powderkeg of violence that exploded on the James Smith Cree First Nation and in the small northern grainbelt community of Weldon this weekend was long predicted by Saskatchewan’s First Nations leadership.
It exploded into a murderous stabbing rampage that left at least 18 injured and 11 dead, including co-suspect 31-year-old Damien Sanderson whose body was found on the reserve Monday.
His 32-year-old brother Myles Sanderson — still at large as of this writing and last reported being seen on James Cree on Tuesday — is being investigated as a possible suspect in that death as well.
Tuesday, the province entered the third day of a manhunt for Myles Sanderson, casting a chilling pall on an entire province.
But for First Nations leaders like Sol Sanderson — former grand chief of the then-Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations who is one the country’s foremost experts on treaty rights and Indigenous governance — it’s been all too heartbreakingly predictable.
Sol Sanderson recalls attending a conference on Aboriginal issues in 1985 and listening to the then-chief of what was then known as the James Smith band predict that ongoing poverty, addictions and hopelessness on reserves would one day manifest in violence.
For Sanderson, that decades-old prediction was little more than acknowledgement of issues centuries in the making.
“The violence will be internal, but that that won’t last for long,” Sanderson said in an interview Monday evening. “It will become external.”
To be clear, neither Sanderson nor anyone else is in any way condoning the weekend violence or absolving what Premier Scott Moe rightly described as “evil, vicious, senseless acts” by perpetrators that must be brought to justice.
And when it comes to the justice system, there are now serious questions to be asked about why fugitive Myles Sanderson was at large in the first place and why the RCMP didn’t immediately better communicate the threat he posed.
“It is the Board’s opinion that you will not present an undue risk to society if released on statutory release and that your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration to society as a law-abiding citizen,” read Parole Board of Canada documents obtained by several media outlets .
The parole board’s documents showed Myles Sanderson had 59 criminal convictions, including assaults with a weapons and assaulting a police officer he repeatedly kicked in the face during an arrest.
In 2017, the alleged perpetrator still at large raged into an ex-girlfriend’s home and punched a hole through a bathroom door where children cowered in the bathtub for safety, the documents show.
He threw a cement block at a woman’s car windshield, threatened to murder a band store employee and threatened to burn down his parents’ home. In 2018, he stabbed two men with a fork and beat another man senseless, leaving him unconsciousness in a ditch.
Long before this weekend’s tragedy, Myles Sanderson should have been considered a man at large and long out of control with outstanding arrest warrants.
It’s unhelpful to add to the speculation at this point, which only serves to hammer communities that need time. What we do know is gone in the wake of this mad rampage are decent and beloved people who quietly contributed to making their communities better.
Gone is 77-year-old Wes Petterson, treasured in Weldon as a good neighbour , always willing to lend a hand.
Gone is 62-year-old Gloria Burns, who was an addictions counsellor who tried to help many James Smith First Nations residents with their addictions including, according to news reports, Myles Sanderson.
Having used cocaine since he was 14 years old, according to those parole records, Myles Sanderson’s story has been one of addictions and violence coupled with a childhood “involving physical abuse, domestic violence and instability” that saw his parents separate when he was just nine years old.
“Your regular use of cocaine, marijuana, and hard alcohol would make you ‘lose your mind’ and that you can be easily angered when drunk, but are a different person when sober,” the parole documents state.
But for Sol Sanderson — who was born on the James Smith First Nation but is actually a member of the Chakastaypasin Cree First Nation — Myles Sanderson’s background is one that’s all too familiar.
And Sol Sanderson argues it’s become all too easy to trace this dysfunction back to decades — and even centuries — of First Nations history, all the way back to the Papal Bull of 1493 that allowed white people to conquer First Nations land and first took away their rights to control their own communities and the children they were raising in them.
“We’ve lost total control. We’ve lost control for 500 years,” Sol Sanderson said. “For a society that loses total control of its political developments and institutions, the social safety net and how it raises a child, there are consequences.
“After you lose control, there is alcohol, drugs and violence — the things you see today. You wonder why we have a high suicide and murder rate? (Why) gangs are a problem? We’ve lost self-esteem.”
Sanderson says the two brothers “are not not part of his own family.” However, he said can’t “deny the relationship” he has with people in the James Smith community, that have suffered the “impact of his hostile environment that has been developed over generations.”
Even most First Nations people have no understanding of their history, Sol Sanderson said.
What is now the James Smith Cree First Nation was created by the signing of Treaty 6 in 1876. What was once a peaceful gathering place for First Nations and traders at Fort a la Corne and an early adopter of First Nations agriculture quickly descended into a community victimized by infighting and white land speculators.
“This has been a hostile environment ever since,” said Sol Sanderson, who was asked by elders to go to James Smith and address a broken community to help them better understand why such a tragedy would happen to them.
“The impact of this hostile environment has been felt for generations.”
Murray Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
The powderkeg of violence that exploded on the James Smith Cree First Nation and in the small northern grainbelt community of Weldon this weekend was long predicted by Saskatchewan’s First Nations leadership.
It exploded into a murderous stabbing rampage that left at least 18 injured and 11 dead, including co-suspect 31-year-old Damien Sanderson whose body was found on the reserve Monday.
His 32-year-old brother Myles Sanderson — still at large as of this writing and last reported being seen on James Cree on Tuesday — is being investigated as a possible suspect in that death as well.
Tuesday, the province entered the third day of a manhunt for Myles Sanderson, casting a chilling pall on an entire province.
But for First Nations leaders like Sol Sanderson — former grand chief of the then-Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations who is one the country’s foremost experts on treaty rights and Indigenous governance — it’s been all too heartbreakingly predictable.
Sol Sanderson recalls attending a conference on Aboriginal issues in 1985 and listening to the then-chief of what was then known as the James Smith band predict that ongoing poverty, addictions and hopelessness on reserves would one day manifest in violence.
For Sanderson, that decades-old prediction was little more than acknowledgement of issues centuries in the making.
“The violence will be internal, but that that won’t last for long,” Sanderson said in an interview Monday evening. “It will become external.”
To be clear, neither Sanderson nor anyone else is in any way condoning the weekend violence or absolving what Premier Scott Moe rightly described as “evil, vicious, senseless acts” by perpetrators that must be brought to justice.
And when it comes to the justice system, there are now serious questions to be asked about why fugitive Myles Sanderson was at large in the first place and why the RCMP didn’t immediately better communicate the threat he posed.
“It is the Board’s opinion that you will not present an undue risk to society if released on statutory release and that your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration to society as a law-abiding citizen,” read Parole Board of Canada documents obtained by several media outlets .
The parole board’s documents showed Myles Sanderson had 59 criminal convictions, including assaults with a weapons and assaulting a police officer he repeatedly kicked in the face during an arrest.
In 2017, the alleged perpetrator still at large raged into an ex-girlfriend’s home and punched a hole through a bathroom door where children cowered in the bathtub for safety, the documents show.
He threw a cement block at a woman’s car windshield, threatened to murder a band store employee and threatened to burn down his parents’ home. In 2018, he stabbed two men with a fork and beat another man senseless, leaving him unconsciousness in a ditch.
Long before this weekend’s tragedy, Myles Sanderson should have been considered a man at large and long out of control with outstanding arrest warrants.
It’s unhelpful to add to the speculation at this point, which only serves to hammer communities that need time. What we do know is gone in the wake of this mad rampage are decent and beloved people who quietly contributed to making their communities better.
Gone is 77-year-old Wes Petterson, treasured in Weldon as a good neighbour , always willing to lend a hand.
Gone is 62-year-old Gloria Burns, who was an addictions counsellor who tried to help many James Smith First Nations residents with their addictions including, according to news reports, Myles Sanderson.
Having used cocaine since he was 14 years old, according to those parole records, Myles Sanderson’s story has been one of addictions and violence coupled with a childhood “involving physical abuse, domestic violence and instability” that saw his parents separate when he was just nine years old.
“Your regular use of cocaine, marijuana, and hard alcohol would make you ‘lose your mind’ and that you can be easily angered when drunk, but are a different person when sober,” the parole documents state.
But for Sol Sanderson — who was born on the James Smith First Nation but is actually a member of the Chakastaypasin Cree First Nation — Myles Sanderson’s background is one that’s all too familiar.
And Sol Sanderson argues it’s become all too easy to trace this dysfunction back to decades — and even centuries — of First Nations history, all the way back to the Papal Bull of 1493 that allowed white people to conquer First Nations land and first took away their rights to control their own communities and the children they were raising in them.
“We’ve lost total control. We’ve lost control for 500 years,” Sol Sanderson said. “For a society that loses total control of its political developments and institutions, the social safety net and how it raises a child, there are consequences.
“After you lose control, there is alcohol, drugs and violence — the things you see today. You wonder why we have a high suicide and murder rate? (Why) gangs are a problem? We’ve lost self-esteem.”
Sanderson says the two brothers “are not not part of his own family.” However, he said can’t “deny the relationship” he has with people in the James Smith community, that have suffered the “impact of his hostile environment that has been developed over generations.”
Even most First Nations people have no understanding of their history, Sol Sanderson said.
What is now the James Smith Cree First Nation was created by the signing of Treaty 6 in 1876. What was once a peaceful gathering place for First Nations and traders at Fort a la Corne and an early adopter of First Nations agriculture quickly descended into a community victimized by infighting and white land speculators.
“This has been a hostile environment ever since,” said Sol Sanderson, who was asked by elders to go to James Smith and address a broken community to help them better understand why such a tragedy would happen to them.
“The impact of this hostile environment has been felt for generations.”
Murray Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
AMERICAN MEDIA VIEW
Saskatchewan
Why was suspect in Canadian stabbing rampage on the streets?
By ROB GILLIES and ROBERT BUMSTED
1 of 8
An armored RCMP vehicle, right, drives past a police roadblock set up on the James Smith Cree First Nation reservation in Saskatchewan, Canada, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, as they search for a suspect in a series of stabbings. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press via AP)
JAMES SMITH CREE NATION, Saskatchewan (AP) — As the manhunt dragged on for one of two brothers wanted in the stabbing deaths of 10 people in Saskatchewan, the rampage raised questions Wednesday of why the suspect -- an ex-con with 59 convictions and a long history of shocking violence -- was out on the streets in the first place.
Myles Sanderson, 32, was released by a parole board in February while serving a sentence of over four years on charges that included assault and robbery. But he had been wanted by police since May, apparently for violating the terms of his release, though the details were not immediately clear.
His long and lurid rap sheet also showed that seven years ago, he attacked and stabbed one of the victims killed in the weekend rampage, according to court records.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said there will be an investigation into the parole board’s assessment of Sanderson.
JAMES SMITH CREE NATION, Saskatchewan (AP) — As the manhunt dragged on for one of two brothers wanted in the stabbing deaths of 10 people in Saskatchewan, the rampage raised questions Wednesday of why the suspect -- an ex-con with 59 convictions and a long history of shocking violence -- was out on the streets in the first place.
Myles Sanderson, 32, was released by a parole board in February while serving a sentence of over four years on charges that included assault and robbery. But he had been wanted by police since May, apparently for violating the terms of his release, though the details were not immediately clear.
His long and lurid rap sheet also showed that seven years ago, he attacked and stabbed one of the victims killed in the weekend rampage, according to court records.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said there will be an investigation into the parole board’s assessment of Sanderson.
“I want to know the reasons behind the decision” to release him, he said. “I’m extremely concerned with what occurred here. A community has been left reeling.”
Sanderson and his brother Damien, 30, are accused of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a string of attacks across an Indigenous reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon. Damien was found dead Monday, and police were investigating whether his own brother killed him.
This combination of images shown during a press conference at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police "F" Division headquarters in Regina, Saskatchewan, on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022, shows Damien Sanderson, left, and his brother Myles Sanderson. Canadian police said Monday, Sept. 5 Damien Sanderson, one of the suspects in the killing of multiple people in a series of stabbings has been found dead, and his injuries are not self inflicted. They said his brother, also a suspect, may be injured and remains on the run.
(Royal Canadian Mounted Police via AP, File)
Investigators have not given a motive for the bloodshed.
The Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service said nine of those killed were from the James Smith Cree Nation: Thomas Burns, 23; Carol Burns, 46; Gregory Burns, 28; Lydia Gloria Burns, 61; Bonnie Burns, 48; Earl Burns, 66; Lana Head, 49; Christian Head, 54; and Robert Sanderson, 49, One was from Weldon, 78-year-old Wesley Patterson. Authorities would not say whether or how the victims might be related.
But court documents said Myles Sanderson attacked his in-laws Earl Burns and Joyce Burns in 2015, knifing Earl Jones repeatedly and wounding Joyce Burns. He later pleaded guilty to assault and threatening Earl Burns’ life.
Many of Sanderson’s crimes were committed when he was intoxicated, according to court records. He told parole officials at one point that substance use made him out of his mind.
Canada’s Indigenous reserves are plagued by drugs and alcohol.
“The drug problem and the alcohol problem on these reserves is way out of hand,” said Ivor Wayne Burns, whose sister was killed in the weekend attacks. “We have dead people and we asked before for something to be done.”
Myles Sanderson’s childhood was marked by violence, neglect and substance abuse, court records show. Sanderson, who is Indigenous and was raised on the Cree reserve, population 1,900, started drinking and smoking marijuana at around 12, and cocaine followed soon after.
In 2017, he barged into his ex-girlfriend’s home, punched a hole in the door of a bathroom while his two children were hiding in a bathtub and threw a cement block at a vehicle parked outside, according to parole documents.
He got into a fight a few days later at a store, threatening to kill an employee and burn down his parents’ home, documents said.
That November he threatened an accomplice into robbing a fast-food restaurant by clubbing him with a gun and stomping on his head. He then stood watch during the holdup.
In 2018, he stabbed two men with a fork while drinking and beat someone unconscious.
When he was released in February, the parole board set conditions on his contact with his partner and children and also said he should not enter into relationships with women without written permission from his parole officer.
In granting Sanderson “statutory release,” parole authorities said: “It is the Board’s opinion that you will not present an undue risk to society.”
Canadian law grants prisoners “statutory release” after they serve two-thirds of their sentence. But the parole board can impose conditions on that freedom, and inmates who violate them -- as Sanderson did more than once -- can be ordered back to prison.
Sharna Sugarman, who was organizing a GoFundMe for the victims, questioned the parole board for releasing him and wondered why Sanderson was still on the loose so many months after he was deemed “unlawfully at large.”
“That’s just egregious to me,” said Sugarman, a counselor who counted one of the stabbing victims as a client. “If they claim that they’ve been looking for him, well, you weren’t looking that hard.”
Mendicino, the public safety minister, said authorities have to make sure nothing like this happens again.
“It’s incredibly important that when someone is at large and there’s a warrant for their arrest, and they have an extensive criminal background, that all the resources are there to be able to apprehend that person as quickly as possible,” he said. “We do need to take a very careful look at what occurred.
___
AP writer Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City contributed to this report.
Parole records reveal Saskatchewan suspect's violent history
Katie Nicholson - Monday
Long before he became the main suspect in a mass killing and the subject of a multi-province alert, Myles Sanderson had a history of explosive violence, according to Parole Board of Canada documents from February of this year.
Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore speaks during a news conference in Regina on Sunday. Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson were wanted in connection with the stabbing deaths of 10 people on Sunday morning. Police say they discovered Damien's body on Monday.© Michael Bell/The Canadian Press
Sanderson's contacts with the criminal justice system span more than two decades. As an adult, he racked up 59 convictions for assault, assault with a weapon, uttering threats, assaulting a police officer and robbery. Roughly half of the offences were for breaches or failure to comply with pre-existing orders. Because of his violent behaviour, he has a lifetime prohibited weapons ban.
Sanderson, 30, was one of two suspects wanted by police after a string of fatal stabbings in Saskatchewan on Sunday left 10 people dead and many more injured. One of the suspects, Damien Sanderson, 31, was found dead Monday. Police are still searching for Myles, who is Damien's brother.
Myles faces three counts of first-degree murder; Damien had been charged with one count of first-degree murder. Both men were also charged with attempted murder and break and enter.
The parole documents paint a picture of a man who struggled with drug and alcohol use in late childhood and note that Myles Sanderson started using cocaine at age 14.
"You ... said that your regular use of cocaine, marijuana, and hard alcohol would make you 'lose your mind' and that you can be easily angered when drunk, but are a different person when sober," the parole documents state.
The documents contain details of specific moments of rage, including a 2017 incident in which Sanderson forced his way into an ex-girlfriend's home, talking about a gang and punched a hole in the bathroom door where children were hiding in a bathtub for protection.
Once outside the home, Sanderson threw a cement block at a woman's car windshield. A few days later, the documents say Sanderson threatened to murder a band store employee and then burn down his parents' home.
Attacked police officer
In 2018, Sanderson stabbed two men with a fork and beat another man until he lost consciousness in a ditch. In June of that year, he repeatedly kicked a police officer in the face while being taken into custody.
The documents also make reference to Sanderson's childhood. His parents separated when he was nine and he grew up in an environment "involving physical abuse, domestic violence and instability."
While incarcerated, Sanderson had trouble following the rules and got in trouble twice for possessing contraband. Despite those issues, in February of 2021, his security classification was reduced and he was transferred to a healing lodge.
Risk assessment tools found Sanderson to be in medium-to-high and high-risk categories to reoffend.
Sanderson was released from minimum security on statutory release in August 2021, according to the documents, but the release was suspended in November of that year when his ex-spouse reported that they had been living together in contravention of the conditions.
The statutory release came with six conditions that prohibited Sanderson from consuming alcohol and drugs, required him to follow a treatment plan for substance abuse and domestic violence, and to refrain from intimate relationships with women without written permission from his parole officer.
Sanderson was also ordered to avoid people involved in criminal activity and drugs and was barred from contact with four people, identified only by their initials.
Concern about behaviour
The documents state that while on release, Sanderson stayed sober, got a job and was seeing a therapist and was engaged in cultural ceremonies. They note he was working on managing his emotions and felt that his risk factors were manageable in the community.
But they also noted there were long-standing concerns about his behaviour.
The February parole documents reveal the board ultimately decided to cancel the November suspension of the release but left a reprimand in his file.
"It is the board's opinion that you will not present an undue risk to society if released on statutory release and that your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration to society as a law-abiding citizen," the documents state.
By May, Crime Stoppers had issued an alert for Sanderson, who was described as being "unlawfully at large."
Saskatoon police earlier confirmed they've been searching for Myles Sanderson since then, after he stopped meeting with his assigned caseworker.
Katie Nicholson - Monday
Long before he became the main suspect in a mass killing and the subject of a multi-province alert, Myles Sanderson had a history of explosive violence, according to Parole Board of Canada documents from February of this year.
Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore speaks during a news conference in Regina on Sunday. Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson were wanted in connection with the stabbing deaths of 10 people on Sunday morning. Police say they discovered Damien's body on Monday.© Michael Bell/The Canadian Press
Sanderson's contacts with the criminal justice system span more than two decades. As an adult, he racked up 59 convictions for assault, assault with a weapon, uttering threats, assaulting a police officer and robbery. Roughly half of the offences were for breaches or failure to comply with pre-existing orders. Because of his violent behaviour, he has a lifetime prohibited weapons ban.
Sanderson, 30, was one of two suspects wanted by police after a string of fatal stabbings in Saskatchewan on Sunday left 10 people dead and many more injured. One of the suspects, Damien Sanderson, 31, was found dead Monday. Police are still searching for Myles, who is Damien's brother.
Myles faces three counts of first-degree murder; Damien had been charged with one count of first-degree murder. Both men were also charged with attempted murder and break and enter.
The parole documents paint a picture of a man who struggled with drug and alcohol use in late childhood and note that Myles Sanderson started using cocaine at age 14.
"You ... said that your regular use of cocaine, marijuana, and hard alcohol would make you 'lose your mind' and that you can be easily angered when drunk, but are a different person when sober," the parole documents state.
The documents contain details of specific moments of rage, including a 2017 incident in which Sanderson forced his way into an ex-girlfriend's home, talking about a gang and punched a hole in the bathroom door where children were hiding in a bathtub for protection.
Once outside the home, Sanderson threw a cement block at a woman's car windshield. A few days later, the documents say Sanderson threatened to murder a band store employee and then burn down his parents' home.
Attacked police officer
In 2018, Sanderson stabbed two men with a fork and beat another man until he lost consciousness in a ditch. In June of that year, he repeatedly kicked a police officer in the face while being taken into custody.
The documents also make reference to Sanderson's childhood. His parents separated when he was nine and he grew up in an environment "involving physical abuse, domestic violence and instability."
While incarcerated, Sanderson had trouble following the rules and got in trouble twice for possessing contraband. Despite those issues, in February of 2021, his security classification was reduced and he was transferred to a healing lodge.
Risk assessment tools found Sanderson to be in medium-to-high and high-risk categories to reoffend.
Sanderson was released from minimum security on statutory release in August 2021, according to the documents, but the release was suspended in November of that year when his ex-spouse reported that they had been living together in contravention of the conditions.
The statutory release came with six conditions that prohibited Sanderson from consuming alcohol and drugs, required him to follow a treatment plan for substance abuse and domestic violence, and to refrain from intimate relationships with women without written permission from his parole officer.
Sanderson was also ordered to avoid people involved in criminal activity and drugs and was barred from contact with four people, identified only by their initials.
Concern about behaviour
The documents state that while on release, Sanderson stayed sober, got a job and was seeing a therapist and was engaged in cultural ceremonies. They note he was working on managing his emotions and felt that his risk factors were manageable in the community.
But they also noted there were long-standing concerns about his behaviour.
The February parole documents reveal the board ultimately decided to cancel the November suspension of the release but left a reprimand in his file.
"It is the board's opinion that you will not present an undue risk to society if released on statutory release and that your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration to society as a law-abiding citizen," the documents state.
By May, Crime Stoppers had issued an alert for Sanderson, who was described as being "unlawfully at large."
Saskatoon police earlier confirmed they've been searching for Myles Sanderson since then, after he stopped meeting with his assigned caseworker.
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