Victim’s brother unhappy with answers from corrections at JSCN inquest

At the inquest into the mass stabbing attack on the James Smith Cree Nation, much of the second week has been spent with witnesses from parole and corrections.

Darryl Burns, whose sister Gloria died in the attacks, isn’t happy with some of the answers.

Each of the witnesses was asked at least once what they think could have been done differently and if they had any suggestions for recommendations the jury could make, but almost all of them said no.

Burns, who has standing to ask questions on his family’s behalf during the inquest, said he wished he would have heard someone from corrections say that they learned something from all this, at the very least.

“There is something they could have done differently? Is it my job to identify what they could have done differently? No, it’s not,” said Burns.

From where he’s sitting, Burns said it’s clear that there are a lot of gaps and cracks in the system that was dealing with Myles Sanderson before he killed 11 people and injured more than a dozen others on Sept. 4, 2022.

“There’s a lot of red flags raised in those reports, and I don’t know if they gave enough weight to the reports or they just dismissed them,” he said.

“For me, all the indications were that this guy had a history and he was violent, and everyone knew it.”

Several of the parole and corrections witnesses said Sanderson’s record didn’t stand out among the many other offenders they worked with.

“There’s 10 people with pictures on that table over there who I think would disagree with that,” said Burns, referring to photos of the victims on display outside the room where the inquest is being held in Melfort.

He said their deaths should mean something.

“Their deaths should not mean there’s no changes made in the way things are looked at,” Burns said. “Their deaths should mean something to the way Canada looks at us Native people and says, ‘You know what? We created that. We helped create that. So if we helped create it, how can we help fix it?’ ”

Burns said he has a lot of unanswered questions, like why Sanderson was able to remain at large, why the system didn’t keep a closer eye on him, and why – in Burns’ opinion – it was so easy for him to take advantage of the system.

“The recommendations that are going to come out of this are huge,” explained Burns.

Burns said the system is flawed, and he hopes the inquest can provide some real improvements to prevent violence in the future.

Treaty commissioner shares thoughts on inquest process

Attending the inquest is one of the last acts Mary Musqua-Culbertson is doing in her capacity as Saskatchewan’s Treaty Commissioner, as her time in the position ends on Sunday.

“It’s very important, because this is a significant event that affected so many people, and entirety of our province and the entirety of Indian country across Canada,” said Musqua-Culbertson.

Saskatchewan Treaty Commissioner Mary Musqua-Culbertson says the inquest is doing what it’s supposed to, but that it’s not made for Indigenous peoples. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

She said the inquest process isn’t perfect.

“This isn’t a process set up just for James Smith people,” she said. “If there was, this would be a completely different-looking process. It would be run by Indigenous people. There’d be a reconciliation component and a community component.”

For the process to have value, she said there will have to be a reaction, and she said that it’s not very often that the recommendations from inquest juries are fulfilled.

“It takes the political bodies and leadership at that level to ensure that all those recommendations have teeth and are being met,” said Musqua-Culbertson.

She said she was disappointed to not have seen any representatives from the federal or provincial governments attending the inquest.

“This happened to all of us, not just to James Smith and the family from Weldon. This affected all of us, and there needs to be more of a focus,” she said.

It’s going to be up to the community and families if something more needs to happen, according to Musqua-Culbertson. She said they’ll be the ones to ultimately decide whether the inquest brought healing or justice.

She added that she would like to see a national inquiry focusing on on-reserve policing, as well as corrections and programming inside the Correctional Service of Canada.