Colten Boushie (October 31, 1993 – August 9, 2016) was a 22-year-old Indigenous man of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation who was fatally shot on a rural Saskatchewan farm by its owner, Gerald Stanley.
[5] Legislation eliminating peremptory challenges from jury selection was enacted in 2019 and upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in the October 2020 case R v Chouhan.
Two 2021 reports by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that RCMP's death notification to Boushie's family had been discriminatory and noted serious investigative and communications failures in an otherwise professional response.
[6] According to the police Information To Obtain warrant (ITO), which was produced in the early stages of the investigation[Notes 1] and obtained by The Globe and Mail[7] on August 9, 2016, 22-year-old Colten Boushie and his girlfriend Kiora Wuttunee, Belinda Jackson and her boyfriend Eric Meechance,[8][9] and Cassidy Cross-Whitstone, all from the Red Pheasant First Nation, had spent the day swimming, drinking, and shooting[10][11] at the Maymont River.
[12] The ITO stated that Boushie's group first visited a neighbouring farm belonging to the Fouhy family, where they "attempted to steal vehicles and items"[7] by trying to smash the window of a truck with a .22 calibre rifle.
[attribution needed][18][11] Stanley took a TT-30 (Tokareva) semi-automatic handgun from his shed, loaded it and "fired warning shots in the air" as Cross-Whitstone and Meechance ran from the ATV and fled the property.
[21][13][22][19][23] Boushie's supporters expressed frustration with the "flawed and inadequate" police inquiry, stating that it "initially focused more on the actions of the five young Indigenous people than on the killing of Mr.
The Ford Escape SUV in which Boushie was killed, was "left uncovered, its doors open, for two rainy days, washing away evidence".
The RCMP statement "provided just enough prejudicial information for the average reader to draw their own conclusions that the shooting was somehow justified.
[23] Three days after the shooting, on August 12, 2016, CBC News reported that the "event had stimulated a lot of discussion on various social media platforms".
[29][28] Paul Dornstauder, CBC's Executive Producer for Radio Current Affairs in Saskatchewan, described how "there was a vigorous and at times rancorous debate about what had happened and why, some of which was racist".
[6] The jury selection system allowed trial lawyers to use "peremptory challenges" to reject a limited number of potential jurors without giving a specific reason.
[9] Judge Popescul "warned people in the gallery about making comments during [the] tense trial" and said that "it was the first time in his long career that he had to say that in court based on a complaint from a juror".
[32] Other rallies and vigils took place in Battleford, Winnipeg, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Toronto, and Ottawa to challenge the verdict.
[32] Clint Wuttunee, Chief of the Red Pheasant First Nation, called the verdict "absolutely perverse" and stated that "an all-white jury formed the twisted view of that obvious truth and found Stanley not guilty".
[45] Jagmeet Singh, a criminal defence lawyer and the Leader of the New Democratic Party, told reporters on February 13 that "justice was not served for Colten Boushie".
[46] Toronto-based criminal defence lawyer Sean Robichaud said that it was "wholly inappropriate for elected officials to publicly undermine findings of a lawfully delivered verdict, particularly when it is one of a jury".
[47] At a press conference hosted by Saskatoon Tribal Council, Mayor Clark described the "high-profile trial and its aftermath—which included rallies across Canada—represent a defining moment for this community and this country.
"[32][48] The Saskatoon StarPhoenix reported that Clark called for a "prompt reckoning across the country" as the acquittal had sparked "anxiety and anger".
[50] On February 12, over 300 people gathered to march from Calgary City Hall to Reconciliation Bridge, in temperatures and wind chill that felt like −28 °C (−18 °F), to show support for Colten Boushie's family.
They called for "an end to peremptory challenges in jury selection, which were used in Mr. Stanley's trial to block every potential juror who appeared to be Indigenous".
[53] On February 28, the Justice for our Stolen Children Camp was set up on Wascana Park in Regina in response to the death of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine.
In October 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R v Chouhan that the legislation was constitutional, as well as its retroactive application to jury selection.
[57] In March 2021, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police released two reports on the conduct of the RCMP during the case.
Asking whether Boushie's mother had been drinking and smelling her breath for alcohol after she took her son's death poorly was found to be insensitive and discriminatory.
The vehicle at the centre of the shooting was left uncovered despite having an available tarp and being aware of upcoming bad weather, which led to crucial evidence being destroyed by rainfall.
[58] A separate issue brought up by the CRCC reports involved the Saskatchewan RCMP's press releases, which while factually accurate, disproportionately focused on the allegations of theft.
[58] The reports also criticized the RCMP for destroying recordings and transcripts in August 2018, which detailed radio communications between its officers who had responded to the shooting.
The destruction of these records meant the CRCC had less evidence to assess the RCMP justification for its tactical approach to delivering the death notification.
Lucki contested some aspects of the CRCC report, such as the tactical approach they took for the death notification because of perceived risk from Boushie's companion.