Styres family to call for changes to Canada's justice system at Assembly of First Nations
Six Nations Chief Ava Hill says the justice system is full of flaws and 'quite frankly, racism'
During a presentation before the Assembly of First Nations Thursday, family and loved ones of Jon Styres and Colten Boushie are expected to call for key changes to Canada's justice system.
Six Nations of the Grand River elected-chief Ava Hill invited Styres's mother and the mother of his children to join her in Vancouver, where the organization aimed at protecting and advancing Indigenous treaty rights has gathered to elect its next chief.
- Not guilty verdict in fatal shooting of unarmed First Nations man
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Hill said she's arranged for the Boushie family to meet the Styres family and address the assembly as well.
"There are a lot of flaws and quite frankly racism within the whole justice system and they're going to make an appeal to the chief about doing something about this," explained the chief.
The families will also have a chance to meet with Jane Philpott, Canada's Minister of Indigenous Services and Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, according to Hill.
Styres's spouse, Lindsay Hill said she's hoping to express how she feels the system failed Jon and to explain how much he was loved.
"I am hoping the chiefs will push for major change within the Canadian justice system and not stop until drastic changes have been made," she wrote in an email to CBC News.
Calls for change
Jon Styres was shot and killed by two close-range shotgun blasts fired by Hamilton-area homeowner Peter Khill on the night of Feb. 4, 2016.
Khill admitted he killed the First Nations man who appeared to be trying to steal his truck. But he pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, saying he was following his training as a former military reservist and that he fired in self-defence.
Prosecutors argued he could have stayed in his house and called 911, but a jury acquitted the 28-year-old on June 27.
The Crown has since appealed Khill's not guilty verdict.
It was a case that drew comparisons to the not guilty verdict reached in the death of Boushie, a 22-year-old from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, who was shot and killed in August 2016 by Gerald Stanley, a white farmer.
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The verdict was reached by a jury without any visibly Indigenous jurors. The decision led to outrage across the country and a pledge from federal ministers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to change "systemic issues" in the justice system.
Hill said those changes still haven't been made and giving the Boushie and Styres families a chance to share their story is a way to show why they need to happen.
"We can't just stand up and yell and scream about it for a little while, we have to keep the pressure on the government to make changes," she said. "We don't want to see this happen again."