Former national chief lands job with law firm AFN hired to lead class action against federal government

Brett Forester - CBC - TODAY

When it came time for the Assembly of First Nations to hire a firm to lead a multi-billion dollar class-action lawsuit against the federal government, Perry Bellegarde would've likely had a say in that decision. Now, that same firm has hired the former national chief as a special adviser.

But even before that time in 2020, Fasken, one of Canada's leading business law firms, worked for the AFN on challenging legal issues — and could eventually be paid legal fees for its work on the class action if a proposed $20-billion settlement is approved.

"A few of our colleagues have known Chief Bellegarde for years," said Martin Denyes, Fasken's regional managing partner for Ontario, in a Monday news release announcing Bellegarde's hiring.

"More of us have come to know him over the last few months as we have discussed the possibilities around this opportunity. You cannot help but broaden your world view after a good conversation with Perry."

The AFN has hired Fasken, which employs more than 800 lawyers countrywide and internationally, as external counsel to help navigate both high-stakes and low-profile situations.

Since 2019, Fasken lawyers have conducted two probes into the conduct of regional chiefs and defended the AFN against two lawsuits filed by former employees in provincial court.

The release did not mention the firm's long-standing relationship with the AFN due to the confidential nature of those arrangements, a spokesperson for the firm said in an emailed statement supplied in response to an interview request.

"Our news is about Chief Bellegarde joining the firm and enhancing our team," the statement said.

"He has joined us because Fasken is a tremendous platform on which he can continue his life's work, continue to engage in meaningful conversations around the Indigenous experience and bring about transformational change."

Fasken asked to handle harassment probe

In 2019, the AFN hired Fasken to conduct a probe into harassment allegations against Morley Googoo, the AFN regional chief for Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, who had been suspended at the time.

Chiefs in Googoo's region voted to remove him from the post a few months later, a day after Fasken investigators completed their report. Googoo would eventually stand trial and be found not guilty on sex assault charges his lawyer deemed "unfounded."

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In January 2020, the AFN filed the class action against Canada, seeking compensation for victims of the underfunded First Nations child-welfare system. Xavier Moushoom had filed a similar lawsuit in 2019.

The AFN decided to sue after the organization "became concerned that it would be sidelined in discussions related to long-term reform and compensation" happening in the Moushoom case, according to an affidavit sworn this year by AFN CEO Janice Ciavaglia.

A different firm represented the lobby group in the initial filing, but the AFN swapped legal firms in August 2020. Fasken has represented the AFN in the case since then, including in confidential talks that led to the proposed settlement, according to court files.

Under that deal, any legal fees paid out to lawyers would be negotiated between class counsel and Canada and would need to be approved by the court. Canada would pay these fees separately, not out of the $20 billion, the files state.

The settlement is currently on hold, however, after the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal last week refused to declare that the deal would satisfy the tribunal's pre-existing compensation order from 2019.

Ciavaglia's affidavit included a draft copy of an AFN executive committee motion authorizing the lawsuit's filing in 2020, which lists Bellegarde among several other participants in the AFN's decision to sue.

Bellegarde, a long-serving First Nations political leader from Little Black Bear First Nation in Saskatchewan, was elected to two consecutive terms as AFN national chief between 2014 and 2021.

A public relations team managing the announcement did not respond to CBC's request to interview Bellegarde. In the Fasken release, Bellegarde said he looks forward to the new role.

"I know firsthand how important it is for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to connect and to understand one another in order to advance human rights, as well as economic prosperity and development," he said in the release.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Bellegarde said he anticipates occasionally working with corporate clients who are on the opposite side of issues with Indigenous groups.

Firm did preliminary probe into current national chief

Fasken's work for the AFN continued into 2021 when it conducted a preliminary probe into bullying allegations against RoseAnne Archibald, who was then the regional chief for Ontario.

The probe found the "allegations and evidence to be credible," and the AFN executive ordered a full investigation, which a different firm was hired to do.

At the time, Archibald, who is now national chief, claimed the allegations were a reprisal. She had been requesting a review of AFN's financial policies and practices, claiming to have documents that showed "financial improprieties" within the AFN.



Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald at the annual general assembly in Vancouver in July following the results of a vote on an emergency resolution that looked to continue her suspension. A total of 252 First Nations chiefs and proxies voted against the resolution, while only 44 voted in favour.© Andrew Lee/CBC

A Fasken lawyer also represented AFN as a defendant in a $100,000 wrongful dismissal suit filed by former communications officer Gail Boyd in December 2020. The case was dismissed on consent in June 2021.

The same lawyer is currently representing AFN in another wrongful dismissal lawsuit the organization's former HR director Robin Henry filed in June 2022, according to the Ontario Superior Court registry.

This one seeks $200,000 in damages and has not been tested in court.

Pod of Dolphins Found Accompanying Body of Drowned Teen

Jess Thomson - 


The body of a 15-year-old girl who drowned after she was swept off the rocks on a South African beach was recently found floating in the water with a pod of dolphins nearby.

The girl fell into the ocean at Llandudno beach in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 28, and was swept away by rip currents, according to the National Sea Rescue Institute. Her body was found on October 29 around 0.6 miles offshore, alongside a group of dolphins.

"An NSRI rescue craft patrolling deep sea about a kilometer offshore reported ... that the body of the teenager was located floating on the water surface accompanied by a pod of dolphins near to the rescue craft," NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon told local news outlet The South African.

Dolphins are highly intelligent creatures, with sophisticated communication and social skills in their communities. Anecdotal cases of dolphins saving humans have been reported several times, including one case in 2004 where a pod of dolphins seemingly rushed to the aid of a group of swimmers in New Zealand, circling the group until a nearby ten-foot great white shark left them alone.

"I am certain they would recognize a dead human body in the water," Olaf Meynecke, a whale and dolphin researcher at Australia's Griffith University, told Newsweek.

"However, the stories we sometimes hear about dolphins actively trying to save people need to be taken with caution. It is not unheard of that some whales and dolphins have shown altruistic behavior towards other species. Even defending them against predators, so it is not impossible, but in many cases, a close encounter with people is often curiosity, not an intention to save them."

Other experts agree that it is possible that the dolphins may have been attempting to help, but that it is just as likely that they were merely investigating an unusual scene, or even playing with the body.

Related video: Watch These Dolphins Get Up Close and Personal

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"There are plenty of anecdotes about dolphins rescuing drowning swimmers. Some could be true, many others are likely exaggerations. What you won't always hear about are the times when animals drag swimmers out to sea because the victim isn't alive to tell the story. It is impossible to know what the dolphins were thinking or doing here, however, I think it is just as likely they were trying to help as they were just playing with the body," Jason N. Bruck, a biology professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, told Newsweek.

Regardless of if the dolphins were attempting to come to the girl's aid in this case, they have been noted to appear to recognize death as a concept and grieve losses in their social groups.

"When dolphin calves are born their mothers will help steer them to their first breath. Calves that are stillborn or die soon after birth may set the mother into a behavior pattern where they are constantly trying to steer the lifeless body to the surface," Bruck said.

Meynecke agreed, saying: "Dolphins certainly do feel strong emotional pain in association with the death of close individuals (peers, relatives and friends). They have been [seen] carrying their dead young for days. This is true for many dolphin species from orcas to pilot whales to bottlenose dolphins."



Stock image of a bottlenose dolphin and her calf.

 iStock / Getty Images Plus

This behavior may not be what we as humans recognize as mourning, though.

"In this case, she may not be able to understand her calf is dead, or this drive may be overwhelming that recognition. What is normally an adaptive behavior towards a healthy calf quickly turns into something maladaptive in this case. It is this behavior that is often interpreted by some as whale grief. In truth, it is impossible to know exactly what they are thinking as their minds are separated from ours by 95 million years of evolution, but the urge to anthropomorphize in humans is strong," Bruck said.

Paul Pelosi's Suspected Attacker's Nudist Ex-Lover Says David DePape Was 'Constantly Paranoid' & 'Mentally Ill For Long Time'

The nudist ex-lover of the man accused of attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband recently spoke out and revealed the suspect has been “mentally ill for a long time” and suffers from “paranoid delusions,” RadarOnline.com has learned.


Mega© Radar Online

Oxane “Gypsy” Taub, the 53-year-old former lover of 42-year-old David DePape, is currently in jail for attempting to kidnap a 14-year-old boy in 2021.


Mega© Radar Online

But during a phone call from prison on Monday with the San Francisco Bay Area affiliate outlet ABC 7, Taub revealed she witnessed DePape slowly succumb to his mental illness during their nearly two-decade relationship together.

“He came back in very bad shape. He thought he was Jesus. He was constantly paranoid, thinking people were after him,” Taub said regarding one incident where DePape disappeared for almost an entire year.

“And it took a good year or two to get back to, you know, being halfway normal,” she added. “He is mentally ill. He has been mentally ill for a long time.”

Related video: Paul Pelosi's Alleged Attacker Identified; Authorities Say He Assaulted 82-Year-Old in Front of Officers Duration 2:08   View on Watch

Even more surprising was Taub’s claim that, when she and DePape first met roughly 20 years ago, the suspected assailant held progressive political views. She also described herself as the “ex-life partner of David DePape and the mother of his [three] children.”

“Well when I met him, he was only 20 years old, and he didn't have any experience in politics, and he was very much in alignment with my views and I've always been very progressive,” she explained. “I absolutely admire Nancy Pelosi.”



Mega© Radar Online

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, DePape was arrested on Friday morning after allegedly attacking Paul Pelosi at his and the House Speaker’s Pacific Heights, San Francisco home.

DePape was found to have had zip ties, rope and duct tape when he broke into the couple’s $6 million California home, and he allegedly attacked Paul with a hammer before demanding to see Nancy.

"Officers told the men to drop the hammer, at which point DePape allegedly wrestled the tool free and struck Paul Pelosi with it in the head, knocking him unconscious," a newly released sworn affidavit read regarding the incident.

"DePape stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her,” the court documents continued. “If Nancy were to tell DePape the 'truth,' he would let her go, and if she 'lied,' he was going to break her kneecaps.”



Mega© Radar Online

House Speaker Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband has since undergone surgery for a skull fracture and injuries he sustained to his hands during the altercation with DePape. He is expected to make a full recovery.

DePape is currently facing at least two federal charges for Friday’s incident, including one count of assault of an immediate family member of a United States official and one count of attempted kidnapping of a United States official. He is facing upwards of 50 years in federal prison and is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday.

FIRST INDIGENOUS G.G.
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon unveils a highly personal coat of arms

Richard Raycraft - Sunday

Rideau Hall unveiled Gov. Gen. Mary Simon's coat of arms Friday — one that it says reflects her personal story and commitment to reconciliation.

Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and her husband Whit Fraser for tea in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England on March 15, 2022.

© Steve Parsons/Pool/The Associated Press

Simon became Governor General last year, making history as the first Indigenous person to hold the ceremonial post.

Simon grew up in the Inuit community of Kangiqsualujjuaq in northern Quebec. Prior to her appointment as Governor General, Simon was a broadcaster, civil servant and diplomat.

In a news release, the Governor General's Office said her coat of arms is a symbol of Simon's northern upbringing, her heritage and her career as a diplomat.

"This coat of arms is my story, my true history, and it speaks of my lifelong commitment to bridge-building and family, and of my hopes for a future where we respect and share each other's stories to help foster better relationships between peoples." Simon said in the news release.

Canada's Chief Herald Samy Khalid, who is responsible for official coats of arms, said in the release that Simon's coat of arms is "simple in its composition and, at the same time, exquisitely complex in its meaning."

"It is a personal emblem that serves a public purpose. It exemplifies how heraldry can express many layers of a person's identity in a structured yet creative way," he said.

The motto

Simon is the first Governor General to have a coat of arms with a motto in an Indigenous language. "Ajuinnata" is an Inuktitut word meaning "to persevere" or never give up.

"This motto inspires her own journey and embodies her message of hope to young people and to all Canadians confronted with adversity," the release said.

A Rideau Hall description of the coat of arms says the motto is "a guiding principle for [Simon] and an indication of her hopes for the truth and reconciliation process."

The shield

The shield is white — a colour which the coat of arms description says is meant to represent reconciliation, as well as the snow and sky of Canada's North. The crown symbolizes Simon's role as representative of the monarchy in Canada.

The shield is the shape of an amauti, a traditional parka worn by Inuit women.

A horizontal line in the shield's centre represents Simon's "trailblazing career in Inuit and circumpolar affairs" while the disc and circle around it represent "an inclusive relationship between Indigenous peoples and all Canadians."

The crest

The Snowy Owl is meant to symbolize wisdom, agility and adaptability.

"It thus alludes to Her Excellency's life experience and her diplomatic skills," the coat of arms description said.

The caribou antlers represent the link between humans and nature. It's also an important animal in Inuit culture.

Supporters

Two arctic foxes flank the coat of arms. The animal is "famed for its endurance and long-distance migratory treks," the description said. They represent Simon's "career as a diplomat and advocate for circumpolar affairs."

The mountain sorrel on the left fox's pendant is a common plant Quebec's Nunavik region, where Simon grew up. The strawberry flower on the opposite pendant is to honour Simon's husband, Whit Grant Fraser. The flower is a symbol on the crest of the Scottish Fraser Clan and the name is derived from "Fraise," the French word for strawberry.

Two kakivak harpoons separate the foxes. The spears represent Simon's grandmother, "who taught her many traditional values and life skills," the description said.

Compartment

Simon enjoys picking berries in her spare time, according to her official biography. The blueberries at the bottom of the crest represent that hobby. The cottongrass that surrounds them is used to make the wicks of a traditional Inuit lamp called the qulliq.

Insignia

The three insignia are, from left to right, the Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Companion of the Order of Canada and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces.

Coat of arms has unique elements

Khalid said in an interview that a Governor General's coat of arms is usually revealed much closer to their installation date, but the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the process in this case.

Khalid worked with Simon to design the coat of arms and said he was grateful for the extra time.

"We wanted to do this at this pace this time around, and I think it gave us the opportunity to really develop something very meaningful for Her Excellency," Khalid said.

He said several elements make Simon's coat of arms stand out compared to those of her predecessors. One is the use of the colour white, while another is the Inuktitut motto, which is spelled in both the Latin alphabet and in syllabics.

"In this case what's interesting, in my opinion, is that it's a simple word that's very difficult to translate," Khalid said of the motto.

Khalid added that the use of three insignia is also notable. Most governors general opt for just one, the Order of Canada.

Khalid said he hopes the coat of arms helps Canadians get to know Simon.

"Heralds like to say that they're storytellers, and there's a lot of details here that will allow Canadians to learn a little more about the Governor General, her life and her career."

Feds look to international missing persons commission for help on unmarked graves


OTTAWA — The Canadian government approached an international commission that helped identify the remains of those killed during 9/11 and the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster to potentially aid its response to the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential schools.

A spokesperson for the International Commission on Missing Persons confirmed Monday that the federal government had approached it for support,but said it had no further information to provide and didn't specify when the outreach happened.

Headquartered in The Hague, the organization works in different countries to help identify people who have gone missing or been killed in major conflicts and disasters using DNA testing. It also helps governments and institutions shape policies related to such issues.

Andreas Kleiser, the policy director for the International Commission on Missing Persons, confirmed the organization has been speaking with officials from the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations, including recently. organization, confirmed


"We checked in on developments," Kleiser said in an interview Tuesday.

He said going ahead would depend on factors such as funding and "buy in" from Indigenous communities.

Over the past year, First Nations across Western Canada have announced the presence of what are believed to be the unmarked graves of Indigenous children who died while forced to attend residential schools.

At least nine communities have reported discovering 1,685 such graves, according to government statistics provided in May.

Ottawa has committed to providing money and resources to the First Nations to investigate the discoveries.

The federal government also appointed Kimberly Murray, a member of the Kahnesatake Mohawk Nation in Quebec and a former executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to serve as an independent special interlocutor.

Murray was tasked with recommending policy changes and identifying options to protect and preserve the sites.

She said that while the commission does valuable work, the fact the federal government had been inpreliminary discussions with it raised some concerns because it's unclear if the request for their involvement came from Indigenous communities themselves, which she says must lead the process.

"We're speaking about Indigenous children in these graves," she said in an interview Monday.


"We're talking about Indigenous communities. We have Section 5 constitutional sovereignty rights. It's a little bit of a different approach that needs to happen with these investigations."

Murray added that while planning for a recent conference in Edmonton, the federal government asked if her office was interested in hearing from the commission.

In a statement late Monday, the office of Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said "there is currently no contract in place" between the department and the missing persons commission, but did not address discussions between the two.

"I would hope that if Canada is engaging in any kind of contract with the commission to do any kind of work that they would have discussed it with Indigenous leadership and survivors," Murray said.

"How does their work incorporate Indigenous law?"

Some details on Ottawa's thinking around possibly turning tothe commission are contained in an undated briefing note prepared for the deputy minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, which was released to The Canadian Press under federal access-to-information legislation.

Titled, "Contracting the ICMP (International Commission on Missing Persons) for Engagement Services,)" the heavily-redacted document says the government has heard "repeated calls by Indigenous leadership to develop a national strategy to address the identification of unmarked graves and repatriation of human remains."

It says communities have made it clear that Ottawa can't be involved. Successive Canadian governments funded and oversaw the residential school system, though churches operated the institutions.

"The first step in developing this strategy is engagement," the briefing note reads, saying the commission has "expertise exclusively focused on addressing the complex issue of the identification and repatriation of human remains."

"As an arm's length international organization, the ICMP has a reputation as a trusted interlocular with a strong reputation for independence and impartiality."

It goes on to list how the organization worked with Quebec authorities to help identify some of those killed in the 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster, when nearly 50 were killed after the downtown derailment of train cars carrying crude oil.

More recently, the organization says on its website that it has been tapped to help in Ukraine, where thousands of civilians have been killed or gone missing since Russia launched its invasion in February, and where recent mass gravesites have already been found.

Murray said it is critically important that investigations into unmarked graves remain independent of the Canadian government.

"It's the state police, the state government, that caused the problem that we're currently trying to investigate our way out of," she said.

Murray has independently pursued outside expertise, including during the recent conference in Edmonton.

Her office invited the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala, which has helped communities set up labs to investigate and try to identify the remains of those killed in its civil war.

The organization has specific experience working with Indigenous communities, Murray said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

Supreme Court declares parts of sex offender registry unconstitutional


OTTAWA — Canada's top court has struck down parts of the national sex offender registry.


In a ruling Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada said mandatory registration of all sex offenders with more than one conviction goes too far and that keeping offenders on the registry for the rest of their lives violates the Constitution.

"While mandatory registration has the attraction of simplicity and ease, the convenience of requiring every sex offender to register does not make it constitutional," wrote the court in a majority decision.

The ruling concerns the conviction of Eugene Ndhlovu, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to the sex assaults of two women in 2011.

Court heard Ndhlovu, who was 19 at the time, was brought to a party publicized by a sexually explicit ad on Facebook. He touched one woman on the buttocks and another in her vagina.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in jail and three years' probation, which he served.

Under 2011 amendments made to the sex offender registry, Ndhlovu’s name would have been permanently added to the list with no discretion for either the judge or the Crown.

But the trial judge found the Crown had introduced almost no evidence to show that the mandatory listing helped police sexual assault investigations. Justice Andrea Moen found the benefits to society of mandatory lifetime listing didn't justify the impacts on Ndhlovu, whom Crown experts considered a minimal risk to reoffend.

Moen's ruling was overturned by the Alberta Court of Appeal, but upheld by the Supreme Court.

The Friday ruling said the registry is not intended to punish offenders but to aid law enforcement. It said there are currently 27 offences ranging widely in severity that require offenders to be listed.

"(The registry)is nearly 20 years old," the court wrote. "Despite its long existence, there is little or no concrete evidence of the extent to which it assists police in the prevention and investigation of sex offences."

Meanwhile, it found the impact of being placed on the registry to be severe.

Offenders must report to police if they change their address, travel or obtain a driver's licence or a passport. They may be contacted by police at any time. There's the stigma it brings, as well as some evidence that simply being listed increases the chance of reoffending.

"The impact of a (registry) order on an offender’s liberty can only fairly be described as serious," the court wrote.

Three justices dissented from the majority on the constitutionality of mandatory listing, although they agreed that lifetime listing could not be justified.

The dissenters wrote that before listing was made mandatory, too many judges were refusing to require offenders to be placed on it, reducing its effectiveness.

But Elvis Iginla, Ndhlovu's lawyer, said the current legislation reduces the registry's usefulness by diluting it with low-risk offenders, such as his client.

"We don't have any issue with the fact there is a need for a sex offenders registry," he said. "It's essential there is one.

"(But) you don't want people on there who don't need to be on there."

The court has given the federal government a year to rewrite its legislation before the clause on mandatory listing is struck down. The requirement for lifetime listing is quashed immediately.

It also exempted Ndhlovu from being listed at all.

"He's very grateful," said Iginla.

Ndhlovu is employed and has had a clean record since his conviction, added Iginla.

"He's trying to move on. He doesn't believe he will ever endanger anyone and he wanted the chance to prove that."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2022.

— By Bob Weber in Edmonton. Follow him on Twitter at @row1960

The Canadian Press

ABOLISH PRISON

Canada failing Black, Indigenous prisoners as overrepresentation persists: report

OTTAWA — Canada has made scant progress in addressing the overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous people in prisons, with some facing even worse conditions than a decade ago, a new report says.


Canada failing Black, Indigenous prisoners as overrepresentation persists: report© Provided by The Canadian Press

The country's top prison watchdog says systemic concerns and barriers, including rampant racial discrimination, stereotyping and bias, are "as pervasive and persistent as before."

Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger said in a press conference Tuesday that he is disappointed the "extraordinarily well-financed" agency in charge of Canadian prisons has failed to recognize its role in reversing the crisis of overrepresentation.

"For an organization that spends so much money to have poor correctional outcomes, especially for Indigenous prisoners as well as for Black prisoners, is a real shame and something that Canadians should be concerned with," he said.

The Correctional Service of Canada employs about 1.2 staff members for each incarcerated person and spends almost $109,000 a year per prisoner, Zinger said, putting it among the best-financed agencies in the world. "These are phenomenal numbers."

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who oversees the service, said that he welcomed the "meticulous" report and that "extensive work" is underway to address issues.

"I look forward to working closely with CSC to ensure progress is made on the issues identified in this report to improve our federal correctional system," he said in a written statement.

"All offenders must be able to serve their sentences with dignity and without fear, in an environment that supports rehabilitation and prepares them to reintegrate into Canadian society."

Zinger's latest annual report includes an investigation of the experience of Black prisoners and the first part of an investigation focused on Indigenous people in the system. Both are updates to landmark reports in 2013, and neither found much improvement since then.

Black prisoners represent 9.2 per cent of the total incarcerated population despite representing only about 3.5 per cent of the overall Canadian population, the report says. More than a third of them are young Black men aged 18 to 30.

The investigation found that Black prisoners were more likely to be overrepresented at maximum-security institutions, involved in "use of force incidents," involuntarily transferred, placed in solitary confinement, institutionally charged and assessed as "higher-risk" and "lower motivation."

Black prisoners relayed their experiences of "discrimination, differential treatment, stereotyping, racial bias and labelling," the report reads, and "consistently reported use of derogatory or racist language by CSC staff, as well as being ignored or disregarded in ways that increase feelings of marginalization, exclusion and isolation."

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They also told investigators that they were more likely to be labelled as "gang members," or treated as such.

Zinger decried the correctional service for an "underwhelming and disappointing" response to his recommendations, and for consistently failing to include input and support from Black community groups. He said the agency promised more sensitivity training, more research projects and more policy reviews in response.

"The service's stated commitment of creating 'an anti-racist organization that is more inclusive, diverse and equitable' looks good on paper," he told reporters.

"But top-down, corporate-driven diversity, inclusion and anti-racism frameworks are not likely to reach down to root out the discriminatory and unfair treatment that Black people consistently related to us in the course of this investigation."

The overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prison continues to worsen, with Indigenous people now making up 32 per cent of the prison population, and more than 50 per cent of incarcerated women.

Indigenous people are also more likely to be subject to the use of force by correctional officers, put into structured intervention, placed in maximum security and labelled as gang members.

Indigenous prisoners are more likely to self-injure and attempt suicide. Five out of six people who died by suicide last year were Indigenous, Zinger said.

"We found, again, terrible outcomes," he said.

Though more than 30 recommendations have been made to the correctional service over the years on how to fix the problem, including funding healing lodges and allowing the supervision of Indigenous offenders in their own communities, it "hasn't followed up very much on many of them," said Zinger.

Zinger's report includes a third investigation, this one addressing restrictive confinement in maximum security institutions for men.

It found that federal legislation intended to replace the former "administrative segregation" regime with "structured intervention units," has failed to prevent the creation and extension of segregation-like conditions.

A wide range of practices similar to solitary confinement are still used, including "voluntary limited association ranges," which are purportedly designed for "inmates who do not want to integrate in mainstream inmate populations" but who do not meet the criteria for placement in structured intervention units, the report says.

These "exist outside the law," says the report, and Zinger is calling on the correctional service to develop a national policy addressing such systems that takes into account prisoners' rights, freedoms and privileges.

Zinger's office has made 18 recommendations to the federal government overall, including eight focused on improving the lives of Black prisoners.

The recommendations include the development of a national strategy that specifically addresses "the unique lived experiences and barriers faced by federally sentenced Black individuals" and a renewed call to appoint a new deputy commissioner focused exclusively on Indigenous corrections.

Among other things, Zinger is also urging the government to prohibit the use of dry cells beyond 72 hours, update the CSC's national drug strategy, change a "discriminatory" system of organizing maximum-security women and add basic safety equipment such as seatbelts to prisoner escort vehicles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

The Canadian Press

'Isn't about fed-bashing for kicks': Saskatchewan aims to assert autonomy with bill


REGINA — The Saskatchewan government introduced a bill Tuesday to unilaterally amend parts of the Canadian Constitution, signalling the province is gearing up for a fight with Ottawa over its environmental policies.



The Saskatchewan Party government is leaning on Section 45 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which "permits provincial legislatures to amend the constitution of the province" — in this case, the Saskatchewan Act.

It's the same section Quebec relied on when it unilaterally changed the Constitution to make French its official language earlier this year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said it's legitimate for provinces to modify the section of the Constitution that applies specifically to them.

Saskatchewan wants to add several articles in the Constitution that pertain to its autonomy and its ability to control the development of its non-renewable natural resources, forestry resources and electrical generation.

It also wants to amend the Saskatchewan Act to reassert that it has exclusive jurisdiction over its natural resources. It would also set up a tribunal to determine economic harms caused by federal environmental policies.

"We think we're on solid ground with respect to … both of those amendments, based on the fact that these amendments don't purport to change the divisions of powers between the federal and provincial government," Mitch McAdam, director of the provincial government's constitutional law branch, said Tuesday.

"We feel we're on solid constitutional footing."

Saskatchewan's NDP Opposition criticized the proposed bill as a "copy-paste" of what already exists in the Constitution.

Section 92A of the Constitution Act says provinces have jurisdiction over its natural resources.

"If it makes the government feel better — fine. I don't think it has a lot of legal significance," NDP justice critic Nicole Sarauer said.

Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre sponsored the bill, which was introduced in the legislature on Tuesday.

"This isn't about fed-bashing for kicks," she said.

"It's about our place in this federation and our responsibility to the people of Saskatchewan to foster economic growth."

Eyre said the bill could help establish a legal basis for challenging federal regulations that hurt industries.

"We would look, for example, at defining, quantifying, assessing that economic harm in dollar-figure terms and potentially using that as evidence in a future case," Eyre said.

The bill would help in court cases surrounding jurisdictional debates, said McAdam.

"It's not just symbolic. That's something that the courts can look to and can be an interpretive aid when the courts are called upon to decide where that boundary line is," McAdam said.

He said the bill can also inform future decisions when there is a request for an injunction or the government files a reference to the Court of Appeal to get its opinion on a matter.

"It will give us those tools that we will need to take that case forward to the courts," McAdam said.

Moe made a commitment that his government would "respect and follow all the laws of the land" as it puts forward its changes.

The same was echoed by McAdam.

"(The act) recognizes that that's the role of the courts and the courts are the ultimate arbitrators of where that diving line is between federal and provincial jurisdiction," McAdam said.

Danielle Smith, Alberta's new United Conservative premier, has proposed a sovereignty act to resist federal laws and court rulings it deems against provincial interests, but her office has maintained it would remain onside with the Constitution.

Eyre pointed out that Alberta does not yet have a bill, and that the Saskatchewan first act is unique. She said the bill was created following months of legal and economic analysis.

"So this is ours, and ours alone," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press

Letter:  Only Alberta prevents Sask. from being Canada's laughingstock

Reader Letters - Star Phoenix

Were it not for the flat-earthers in Trumpville, Alberta, we in Saskatchewan would be the laughingstock of this country. Imagine the modifying shame of it all if Alberta didn’t exist.


Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Christine Tell speaks at an event at the Regina Wildlife Federation on Monday, September 27, 2021 near White City. 

TROY FLEECE / Regina Leader-Post© Provided by Star Phoenix

We have a premier who must have missed the day at school his teacher taught arithmetic , and who doesn’t know if his ministers vet who is invited to sit in the public gallery.

A minister of public safety who states that it doesn’t bother her that a convicted murderer was a guest of the government for last week’s throne speech as “he’s a free citizen.”

And yet she won’t allow the RCMP to use provincial funds to assist in the federal handgun buy-back program, stating that the “handgun freeze” will not “in any significant way affect actual crime.”

In fact, the individual who sat in the gallery for the throne speech is on full life parole. The federal gun program is not a freeze or confiscation, it’s a buy-back program. Why does the program have to reduce crime in a “significant” manner? If it saves only one life, is that not worth it? What is an “actual” crime?

Related video: Growing frustrations from premiers in prairies as they push for sovereignty

Duration 2:01  View on Watch

Police training must have been very different back when Ms. Tell graduated.

Then we have the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, who must have been in the premier’s math class, stating that the government is getting out of retail liquor sales because the stores could start losing money, even though they are currently profitable.

Oh, the shame of it all. Thank God for Alberta.

J.J. Young, Saskatoon

Alberta NDP says B.C. doctor deal a wake-up call to Smith to knock off pseudo-science

EDMONTON — Alberta’s Opposition NDP leader says a proposed pay deal for B.C. doctors is a wake-up call to Premier Danielle Smith to knock off the pseudo-science and put down the wrecking ball aimed at the province’s health system.


Alberta NDP says B.C. doctor deal a wake-up call to Smith to knock off pseudo-science© Provided by The Canadian Press

Rachel Notley says the B.C. contract shows the race is on for scarce talent in the health field and that the organizational chaos and anti-science bent of Smith’s government are setting Alberta back.

“People who are trained in health care — whether they are nurses' aides, whether they are neurosurgeons — all understand evidence and science,” Notley said Tuesday.

“And those folks being told they have to work in a health-care system that is being led by a premier who doesn’t believe that vaccines are an important part of any health-care regime, those folks are much more likely to go somewhere else.

“All this at a time when we see other provinces acting quickly to attract health-care professionals to their jurisdictions.”

This week the B.C. government announced a tentative deal that could see a full-time family doctor paid about $385,000 a year – a pay boost of about one-third from the current $250,000.

Notley said it’s hard to make direct comparisons, but the B.C. deal is on par if not better than Alberta’s.

Alberta Health spokesman Steve Buick disputed that.

“More fearmongering by Alberta’s NDP does not change the facts: Alberta full-time family doctors were paid $393,000 in 2019-20, more than the $385,000 B.C.’s new deal would pay them next year. And Alberta’s family doctors will earn more compensation under the new agreement with the Alberta Medical Association,” said Buick in a statement.

“The NDP are once again showing they have nothing to contribute on health care but empty politics.”

Related video: Provinces call on Ottawa for more health-care funding
Duration 8:31  View on Watch

Smith became premier three weeks ago, replacing Jason Kenney as United Conservative Party leader and premier.

She campaigned on a platform that blamed Alberta Health Services, the agency tasked with operating front-line care, for what she terms punitive and unnecessary vaccine mandates and rules. She also blames the agency for fumbling the COVID-19 response, leading to hospitals teetering dangerously close to collapse during multiple waves of the pandemic.

Smith said action must be taken immediately to fix jammed emergency wards and ambulance bottlenecks. She has promised to fire the AHS board and revamp the entire system with an eye to decentralizing it by mid-January.

She has also promised to not impose new health restrictions or mask mandates to combat any future COVID-19 outbreak. She is contemplating legal steps to ensure schools can’t impose mask rules, and next month plans to change human rights laws to forbid discrimination, such as banning someone from coming to work because they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Smith, on her first day as premier on Oct. 11, said she takes her health cues from documents such as the Great Barrington Declaration. The 2020 open letter from a group of health specialists argues for shielding the vulnerable but otherwise letting COVID-19 run unchecked to create herd immunity and reduce long-term harmful side-effects from isolation, such as drug use and mental health problems.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, publicly rejected the declaration, calling it scientifically flawed and logistically unworkable. Her views echoed other academics and the World Health Organization.

Smith has said Hinshaw will be moved out of her current job.

The premier also said she will not do joint press conferences with Hinshaw, and on Oct. 22 told reporters, “A lot of the bad decisions were made by Alberta Health Services on the basis of bad advice from the chief medical officer of health.”

She has also asserted that allowing health workers to come to work without being vaccinated would be a drawing card, something Notley labelled “an utterly ridiculous, ridiculous assertion.”

Smith, a former journalist, has made headlines for arguments challenging mainstream science. Last year, she pushed for livestock dewormer ivermectin to be used as a COVID-19 treatment – a cure since debunked.

This summer, she apologized after announcing on a livestream interview that people have it within their power to avoid contracting early-stage cancer.

The UCP government has had a fractious relationship with health providers since it tore up the doctors’ master agreement almost three years ago, then fought to roll back nurses’ wages during the pandemic.

The doctors have since agreed to a four-year deal that delivers pay hikes of four per cent or more.

The Alberta Medical Association said it plans to continue suing the province for tearing up the agreement, unless the province follows through on revoking the legislature power it granted itself to tear up the deal in the first place.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press