15 June 2020 - PM Trudeau calls violent arrest of indigenous chief 'shocking'
Justin Trudeau says video of police punching First Nations chief 'shocking'
Reuters (The Guardian, 13/06/2020)
The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, says newly released video showing a forceful arrest of a Canadian Indigenous leader is “shocking” and raises serious questions.
Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation alleged last week that Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) beat him in March during an incident involving an expired licence plate.
This week, Adam’s lawyer filed RCMP dashboard video in a court application to stay legal proceedings for resisting arrest and assaulting police.
Canada indigenous chief Allan Adam battered during arrest
(BBC News, 13/06/2020)
The footage shows Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam being floored and repeatedly punched by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer.
The confrontation took place in Fort McMurray, Alberta, on 10 March.
Protests demanding police reform have spread across Canada recently after spilling over from the US.
'Born leader': Contradiction is Alberta Chief Allan Adam's strength
Bob Weber (The National Post, 12/06/2020)
It was supposed to be a triumph.
South-African anti-apartheid hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu was joining the chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in his struggle against environmental degradation from the northern Alberta oilsands.
But for Allan Adam - now at the centre of controversy over his violent arrest outside a casino - it turned out to be something more complex. And emblematic.
Let’s save some outrage for treatment of Indigenous people
(The Toronto Star, 12/06/2020)
The killing of George Floyd has reverberated around the world and set off waves of protests against anti-Black racism and police brutality.
Canadians across the county have braved the pandemic to gather in the streets to show their support, express their outrage and demand an end to anti-Black racism once and for all, in all its forms. It’s an important and welcome movement.
Anti-Black racism — which plays out tragically in encounters with police and in the less violent, but no less significant, everyday bias and lack of opportunities — is a problem Canadians must face and solve together.