By Canadian Press

‘Lip service’: Saskatchewan chief wants meeting with Ottawa after mass killer report

Mar 13, 2024 | 4:27 PM

SASKATOON — A First Nations chief in Saskatchewan says his community needs a seat at the table after a probe into the release of a mass killer failed to include members’ input.  

A joint investigation by the Correctional Service of Canada and the Parole Board of Canada into the statutory release of Myles Sanderson was made public Tuesday. 

Sanderson was unlawfully at large when he killed 11 people and injured 17 others on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon in 2022. 

The 32-year-old died in police custody a few days after the killings. 

Chief Robert Head of the Peter Chapman Band, one of the three communities that make up the First Nation, says he was disappointed members were not included in the investigation or the development of recommendations. 

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Head says the community must be involved in coming up with solutions to prevent similar tragedies.

“If they’re not going to invite us to the table to provide our input, how are they going to come up with policies?” Head said Wednesday. 

The investigation’s final report concluded there were no indicators or precipitating events that could have prompted staff with the Correctional Service of Canada and Parole Board of Canada to act. It issued 14 recommendations, including more time for parole board members to handle cases and domestic violence training for corrections staff involved in assessing risk levels of offenders.

Head said First Nations leadership met with officials from corrections and the parole board earlier this week.

“The conversations are nice, but really it’s lip service for the First Nation because we were after some concrete reform in areas of justice,” he said. 

Head said the First Nation will be presenting the report, as well as the findings of two coroner’s inquests, to community members in the coming months.

The first inquest held earlier this year looked at each of the killings and issued more than two dozen recommendations. A separate inquest last month into Sanderson’s death issued four recommendations for police to improve arrests. 

Head said the probes into the killer and the stabbing rampage have also not included the community’s input. But he said the First Nation has made it clear it expects to sit down with the federal government to ensure it is involved in the response.

“We wanted a table opened up with Canada in regards to reforming parole board and correction services operations,” he said. “And that table has yet to be established.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2024.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press