Race based double standard is painfully evident– Grand Chief Daniels
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2022
ANISHINAABE AND DAKOTA TERRITORY, MB — The Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) is denouncing the reported detention of two Indigenous counter-protestors at the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature over the weekend.
“How unfortunate that on a day normally associated with love, we are talking once again about potential systemic division,” stated SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels. “I call on the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) to provide a full accounting as to why these two people were singled out from among hundreds, while noise, traffic control, and other bylaws are being violated every day by members of the so-called Freedom Convoy.”
According to published reports, members of the WPS detained two Indigenous people under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act (IPDA) “for their safety” due to traffic concerns. While it’s being reported that neither were charged with a criminal offence, SCO is still very concerned that they were singled out.
“When you look at the illegal and invasive behaviours of people involved with the Freedom Convoy,” added Grand Chief Daniels, “it’s really hard to see how these two individuals could have been having a more negative impact on society at the time of their arrest.”
SCO also wants to remind the WPS and all orders of government that if anyone can stake a claim to the land at the Manitoba Legislative building, it’s the province’s First Peoples, and not the predominately settler protestors now illegally occupying the space.
“I’ve been holding my tongue up until now, but it’s once again abundantly clear that there is a double standard when it comes to holding the behaviour of protestors to account in this country,” concluded Grand Chief Daniels. “This is just another example of the stark evidence that reveals a two-tier system of justice when it comes to First Nations people.”
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The Southern Chiefs’ Organization represents 34 First Nations and more than 81,000 citizens in what is now called southern Manitoba. SCO is an independent political organization that protects, preserves, promotes, and enhances First Nations peoples’ inherent rights, languages, customs, and traditions through the application and implementation of the spirit and intent of the Treaty-making process.
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204-806-6837
Email: Media@scoinc.mb.ca