Trudeau visiting First Nation neighborhood hit by stabbing spree | Indigenous Rights Information
Canada PM’s go to to James Smith Cree Nation comes after leaders known as for sources to arrange tribal policing and dependancy providers.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is visiting an Indigenous neighborhood nonetheless grappling with the aftermath of a fatal stabbing spree in September that marked one of many deadliest incidents in Canada’s historical past.
Trudeau will journey to James Smith Cree Nation on Monday, his workplace said, to pay his respects to the victims of the September 4, 2022 rampage in the neighborhood, situated within the central province of Saskatchewan.
The prime minister will meet with James Smith Cree Nation Chief Wally Burns and different Indigenous leaders, earlier than making an announcement on Monday afternoon.
Burns had called for greater resources within the aftermath of the assault, together with the institution of tribal police in the neighborhood.
Ten residents of James Smith Cree Nation, house to roughly 1,900 individuals who reside on the reserve, had been killed within the series of fatal stabbings. One other particular person was killed within the close by village of Weldon, whereas 18 others had been injured.
Canadian police said last month that they believed solely one of many two brothers initially accused of being answerable for the assaults carried out the murders.
Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) mentioned Damien Sanderson, initially named as a suspect within the assaults, “was a sufferer of murder” by his brother, Myles Sanderson.
After a days-long search following the stabbings, Myles Sanderson was arrested and died after going into “medical misery” in police custody.
Authorities haven’t launched a motive for the assaults and the RCMP mentioned final month that “the fact is, we could by no means actually know precisely why”.
Some neighborhood members and Indigenous leaders have mentioned the violence was the results of drug abuse.
“That is the destruction we face when dangerous unlawful medication invade our communities,” Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) mentioned in September.
Burns, the James Smith Cree Nation chief, additionally had known as for the launch of dependancy consciousness programmes and for therapy centres to be established in the neighborhood.
“We’ve obtained to guard our neighborhood, struggle in opposition to medication and alcohol,” he mentioned days after the spree.
Canadian media shops had reported that Myles Sanderson had a two-decade-long prison document and lots of of his crimes had been carried out when he was intoxicated.
In the meantime, two public inquests into the assaults can be held in Saskatchewan.
“The occasions that occurred require a methodical and full investigation,” Clive Weighill of the Saskatchewan Coroners Service advised reporters on September 21.
