Colten Boushie and the Ghastly Silence of the Cons

It's now been several days since an all-white jury found a white farmer in Saskatchewan not guilty of anything in the killing of Colten Boushie.

And since then there have been demonstrations of sorrow and anger all over this country.

So I was really glad to see that Boushie's grief stricken family was able to meet with Justin Trudeau yesterday.



I was impressed by their courage, and their dignity, and encouraged by what Colten's mother had to say after the meeting was over. 

Colten Boushie's mother met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday and emerged optimistic that the Liberal government will address the concerns she raised about the judicial process that ended in an acquittal for the man accused of killing her son.

And by what Debbie Baptiste had to say about the way Trudeau handled that meeting.



She said Mr. Trudeau greeted her by name and embraced her, and when they sat down, she told him about her son and what kind of person he was. And then she told the story of what her family has been through since the night he died. 

She said Mr. Trudeau told her: "'Things need to change. Colten's death was not in vain and we will move forward.'

For while lawyers can debate whether Trudeau and his Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould were right or wrong to tweet about the verdict. 

I believe that lawyer Manjot Hallen is right about those tweets:

I think they were appropriate under the circumstances. Neither the prime minister nor the attorney general challenged the verdict and/or the findings of the jury. Rather, they identified a concern about the process and began a long overdue discussion about improving our justice system.

And even more importantly, I don't think Trudeau had any choice but to send out a message of sympathy to all the aboriginal people of this country, who were hurting and needed to hear that from their government.

For Trudeau has promised them and all their young people like Colten Boushie's brother a better future...


APTN

And a leader without empathy is a leader with nothing to offer anyone.

Which is why this bothers me so much...



For it tells me that the Cons will always put the feelings of their bigot base before the feelings of hurting Canadians.



And nothing makes that more obvious than the silence of their ghastly leader Andrew Scheer.

Who even though he is from Saskatchewan, hasn't demonstrated an ounce of empathy, or bothered to reach out to even the First Nation's people who live in that province.

Which to me sends out this message:



And makes it only too clear, once again, that he is and always will be, unfit to be the leader of this country.

Canada's indigenous people deserve a leader they can look up to and trust...



They deserve better, we all deserve better.

And thank goodness that in a time of sorrow and anger like this one.

We have a leader like Justin Trudeau...