House of Commons unanimously denounces racism, 'coverup' in wake of Colten Boushie-RCMP report

New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh led MPs in the House of Commons Tuesday in the universal condemnation of racism uncovered in an independent watchdog's report on how the RCMP handled its investigation into the 2016 shooting death of Saskatchewan Cree man Colten Boushie. 

Singh also took aim at the destruction of RCMP materials the watchdog had hoped to examine as part of its probe. 

After consulting other federal parties, Singh introduced a motion calling for "the House [to] denounce the racism in the RCMP as found by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) in a report that also revealed that the RCMP destroyed records of police police communications from the night Colten Boushie was killed, and condemn the coverup by the RCMP."

The motion passed without opposition. 

Earlier this week, the CRCC published its much-anticipated report on the investigation of Boushie's shooting at the hands of white farmer Gerald Stanley. A jury found Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in 2018.

In addition to finding that RCMP officers racially discriminated against Boushie's mother, Debbie Baptiste, shortly after the shooting, the commission concluded that officers mishandled evidence, witnesses and media releases in the controversial case, although the overall investigation was deemed professional and reasonable. 

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller was the latest high-profile politician to respond, saying Wednesday the findings are "disturbing."

"We need to let her words speak for themselves," Miller said of Baptiste's account of discrimination. 

Firing one or two officers may be satisfying but wouldn't address the root problems, Miller added.

"It is work that everyone knows one course in sensitivity training won't correct. You need to fix the institutional aspects of it," he said. 

"It is not an overnight solution, which may sound like a frustrating answer to people, and indeed it sure is for those that have that lived experience as they interact with police officers."

Recordings and transcripts destroyed

In its report, the review commission also stated it had hoped to examine some RCMP documents on the Stanley case, only to learn the police force had destroyed them. 

"When the commission requested various recordings and transcripts of telephone calls and radio communications, the RCMP indicated that these records had been deemed to have no evidentiary value to the criminal investigation and had been destroyed upon the two-year anniversary of their creation pursuant to RCMP document retention policies," CRCC chairperson Michelaine Lahaie wrote in her report. 

"The commission noted its disappointment with the RCMP's failure to retain these records. The commission pointed out that both the family's complaint and [my probe] had been initiated before the end of the two-year retention period, and that the materials were relevant to these complaints."

PODCAST / Front Burner examines the findings of the independent watchdog report:

Front Burner26:30‘They had the nerve to smell her breath’

Sask. premier says he has not read full report

Also on Tuesday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe offered his first public reaction to the watchdog report, which was published on the commission's website on Monday after details were first reported by the Globe and Mail and other media on Saturday.

The provincial government did not issue any statement about the report on Monday, unlike the federal Public Safety Canada office. 

Moe was asked by Stephanie Taylor of The Canadian Press if he had read the report and if so, what he thought of how officers were found to have treated Baptiste.

Unlike a previous review by the Saskatchewan RCMP, which supported none of the family's allegations of mistreatment by officers, the CRCC report backed Baptiste's claim that one officer told her to "get it together" and asked if she had been drinking. 

Moe said he had not read all of the CRCC's findings.

"I will be having a look at it as soon as I am able," Moe said during a COVID-19 news conference. "I have not read the report to date. I've seen some of the coverage on what is the content of the report."

Moe said that "From Saskatchewan's perspective, I would say this really does enlighten and I think give some substance to the conversation that we've been having with respect to moving toward some civilian oversight or some public oversight of our policing services, whether they be RCMP or municipal police services as well.

"That is a discussion that has been occurring for some time in this province and I think it's a discussion that you're going to see the government in the days ahead start to take some concrete steps toward."

A provincial government spokesperson said cabinet had nothing more to add to Moe's comments. 

"Saskatchewan needs to join the 21st century on this issue," Chris Murphy, one of two lawyers for the Baptiste family, said in reaction to Moe's remarks. "Allowing colleagues and friends to investigate one another should be a vestige of the last millennium."

Last summer, Saskatchewan's Ministry of Justice announced that the province's Public Complaints Commission would take over the responsibility for investigation observers: the people (usually ex-police officers) previously appointed by the government to watch over investigations of serious incidents such as fatal police shootings.

The provincial complaints commission will now be in charge of recruiting those observers. When the victim of a shooting is Indigenous, two observers will now be brought in, including one of First Nation or Métis ancestry. Observers without a police background will also be allowed.  

But even Brent Cotter, the PCC's chair, said "we would be better off with an independent agency conducting those investigations: a non-police agency that has the same kind of authority and resources as a police agency and that is completely independent."

Baptiste and her other lawyer, Eleanore Sunchild, advocated for similarly enhanced police oversight for Canada in an interview with CBC's Power & Politics on Monday. 

While welcoming the findings of the review commission, Sunchild pointed out its findings are not binding. 

"They need to enforce these recommendations," she said. "The [federal] government needs to enforce them. They need to create some kind of body for accountability and there has to be a timeline put on it as well."

Ottawa's last throne speech promised "enhanced civilian oversight of our law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP."

WATCH | Baptiste and Sunchild's appearance on Power and Politics: