Editor:
Re: Mutual trust and respect needed, letters, April 17
Trust and respect are not easily earned, especially in relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
Take for example, the situation of Cindy Blackstock, a Gitksan from B.C. She took the federal government to court over under-funding of child services on reserves.
Ultimately, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in her favour, but not before she was spied on for many years by up to 189 federal servants of the justice department and Indian Affairs, without a warrant or any allegation of criminal wrongdoing.
Dr. Blackstock took Ottawa to court over the surveillance, and won that case, too.
Who was the deputy minister of Indian Affairs at that time? None other than Michael Wernick of SNC-Lavalin fame. How’s that for irony?
Bob Burgel, Surrey