Tories accuse PM of ‘political interference’ after comments on Boushie case
OTTAWA — The federal Conservatives are accusing Justin Trudeau of “political interference,” after the prime minister responded to the acquittal of a white farmer in the death of a young Indigenous man by saying the criminal justice system has to “do better.”
Trudeau made the comments after a jury in Battleford, Sask., Friday found Gerald Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2016 death of 22-year-old Colten Boushie, a resident of the Red Pheasant First Nation.
“I’m not going to comment on the process that led to this point today, but I am going to say we have come to this point as a country far too many times,” Trudeau said in California, where he was wrapping up a four-day trip to the U.S.
“I know Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians alike know that we have to do better.”