The Boushie family and legal counsel at a Parliamentary press conference. (supplied photo/George Hupka)

By Angela Brown

Community engagement

Colten Boushie documentary to screen at Dekker Centre Sunday

Feb 7, 2020 | 3:44 PM

The award-winning documentary Nipawistamasowin: We Will Stand Up, which takes a deeper look at the death of Colten Boushie and Canada’s judicial system, will have a free screening Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Dekker Centre.

Boushie, a 22-year-old from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation, was fatally shot on Gerald Stanley’s farmyard near Biggar in August 2016. Stanley, who faced a second-degree murder charge in Boushie’s death, was acquitted by a jury in Battleford’s Queen’s Bench Court Feb. 9, 2018.

The screening of Tasha Hubbard’s film marks the second anniversary of the acquittal. The film will also be shown on CBC-TV on Feb. 23. Following the screening, there will be a panel presentation featuring Boushie family lawyer Eleanore Sunchild, the Boushie family, and other guests.

The documentary was first shown in North Battleford June 2019.

Sunchild encourages everyone to see the film.

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“The movie is not about taking sides,” she said. “The movie is about learning about the truth of what happened, and then making an opinion.”

Sunchild said she hopes the film helps inform the public.

“It’s about what was not seen in the trial or what was not reported in the media,” she said. “A lot of the footage is behind the scenes. I want people to see it because it really paints the whole picture.”

Sunchild said the aim of screening the film again in the Battlefords is not to spark controversy or be provocative in any way.

“It’s being informed — that’s not being provocative,” Sunchild said. “It’s been an issue that affects our community.”

“It’s not about Gerald Stanley at all,” she added. “It’s more about the history of the Battlefords. It’s about the [Boushie] family’s pursuit for justice, which could be any Indigenous family’s pursuit for justice.”

Sunchild’s focus is ensuring Indigenous families are treated fairly and respectfully in all aspects of the judicial system.

She said following the Stanley trial there were many racially-motivated comments on the social media and even in the mainstream media that were disturbing to see.

Sunchild said the Boushie family is still seeking a royal commission on injustices within the Canadian criminal justice system and a public inquiry.

The documentary, she said, particularly addresses the ongoing issue of the need for reconciliation as part of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s initiative.

“Reconciliation is not easy; it’s looking at both sides of the issues and having those conversations, even if they are hard,” Sunchild said.

She added a play currently running in Saskatoon called Reasonable Doubt also looks at the issue through an art form known as verbatim theatre.

“I would really like to bring the play to North Battleford,” Sunchild said. “I hope that the organizers of the play will seriously try to bring the play here.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW