By Canadian Press

Metis minister ‘revolted’ by police brutality against Indigenous People

Jun 16, 2020 | 5:20 PM

OTTAWA — Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal says he has been revolted by recent videotaped examples of “police brutality” against Indigenous People in Canada.

Vandal, who is Metis, says systemic racism against Indigenous People stems from the colonial attitude of Canada’s founding government, whose top policy objectives were “to civilize, to Christianize and to assimilate Indigenous people into Canadian life.”

He says it will take dramatic government intervention to stop what he calls the hate and violence demonstrated in the recent incidents.

Video surfaced earlier this month of an Inuk man being knocked over by the door of an RCMP vehicle in Nunavut and of an Alberta First Nations chief, Allan Adam, being tackled and punched in the head by a Mountie during an arrest over expired licence plates.

As well, two Indigenous People have been shot dead by police in New Brunswick this month — Chantel Moore during what was supposed to be a wellness check and Rodney Levi after the RCMP was called to deal with an “unwanted person” at a barbecue.

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Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett says the recent incidents have shown “undeniable evidence” of systemic racism against Indigenous People in Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2020.

The Canadian Press