Category Archives: Justice

Indigenous Nations, Justice

Reshaping a B.C. court to include Indigenous values

By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tofino, B.C. – Direct efforts are underway to address the distrust and problematic history First Nations face within Canada’s justice system.

At the beginning of May, Tofino Provincial Court was relocated from the Tofino Community Hall to the Tin Wis Conference Centre on Tla-o-qui-aht-First Nations traditional territory. Court will continue to be held at this new location on Tla-o-qui-aht land for the next few years.

Tin Wis is the former site of Christie Indian Residential School.

“It used to be the gymnasium of the residential school. It holds a lot of significance,” said Tla-o-qui-aht Justice Manager Curtis Joseph (Tayiisimčił).

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Justice

Cortes Island Elements In A Boat Theft Story

There are some Cortes Island elements in the story of a boat stolen from Campbell River on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. 

Someone living in the Potlatch Road area of southern Cortes Island observed ‘big military type planes’ and some helicopters flying around the ocean that morning and thought it might be a Sea-Air Rescue excerise. He did not think about it again until reading about the incident on CHEK News.

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Indigenous Nations, Justice

Canada’s Special Interlocutor calls for reparations and accountability in final report on unmarked graves

By Jeremy Appel,  Alberta Native News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – Canada’s special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian Residential Schools has released the final report of her mandate, providing recommendations on how the government can honour the memory of the thousands of children who were killed at forced assimilation institutions.

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Justice

RCMP introduce body-worn cameras this winter

Editor’s note: Body cameras might have invaluable in cases like the shooting of Jared Lowndes in Campbell River or the logging protests at Fairy Creek. Of course the next step is rectifying the situation in a way that restores public trust.

By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In effort to increase transparency in policing and improve accountability, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada’s federal police force, will soon be equipped with body-worn cameras.

Frontline general duty officers that work in the communities of: Ucluelet, Ahousaht, Tofino, Mission, Prince George, Cranbrook and Kamloops will be amongst the first to start recording evidence from the first-person perspective or point of view (POV), according to B.C. RCMP, or “E” Division, senior media relations officer Staff Sgt. Kris Clark. 

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Justice, Politics

SRD Petition to Appeal Dismissed by Supreme Court of Canada

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The Strathcona Regional District’s (SRD) long, drawn-out battle with former Regional Director Noba Anderson appears to be over. On January 24 of this year,  the BC Court of Appeal ruled the SRD was wrong to not pay Anderson’s defence costs during a litigation brought against her in 2019. The three judge panel also found they were wrong to censure Anderson for showing confidential documents to her lawyer. The SRD filed for leave to appeal this judgement.  On Thursday, August 29, 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed their request and awarded costs to Anderson. 

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