Joint Statement from President DeGagné, the Nipissing University Faculty Association, and the Nipissing University Student Union on the Colten Boushie Decision

On behalf of Nipissing University we wish to express condolences to the family of Colten Boushie. We acknowledge the pain and loss of the Boushie family, and support their public efforts to press for changes to the nation’s criminal justice system. We are also concerned about the impacts this decision might have on Indigenous people, students, faculty, staff, and other Canadians.We should not be surprised by this outcome. Leading up to this decision there have been decades of events that are cause for concern. We have also spent time and resources in the pursuit of truths about the lives of Indigenous people, and have an abundance of recommendations and reports. The Manitoba Justice Inquiry, The Royal Commission on Aboriginal People, and more recently the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its Calls to Action have all identified systemic failings. We continue to see the expression of systemic wrongs, for example, in Indigenous over-representation in Canada's prisons and in child welfare.
What do we do? We have momentum now on Reconciliation, and there has never been such positive public acknowledgement that changes must occur. It is a beginning. We need now more than ever to see our common concern as a means to make meaningful change to the systems that so dominate the lives of Indigenous people. The recent announcement by the Government of Canada that it will develop – in full partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples – a Recognition and Implementation of Rights Framework, may well prove to be an historic moment, and an acknowledgement of inherent rights including the right to self-determination.
In this moment, we continue to support each other through events and opportunities for discussion, and we continue to teach and learn in order to shape a better future.
We welcome all students who want to talk with the Elder-in-Residence at Enji Giigdoyang or counselling in the Sacred Space to visit the Indigenous Initiatives Office.?