“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

George Santayana, philosopher and poet

Sunday, November 28, 1971; Fred Quilt, an obscure aboriginal person living in the Chilcotin region of British Columbia, somehow sustains a fatal blunt force injury to his abdomen as he is being taken from his vehicle to a police vehicle by two members of the RCMP. Other RCMP members investigated the death, and no criminal charges were laid.

Sunday, December 6, 1998; Frank Joseph Paul, an obscure homeless alcoholic aboriginal person living in Vancouver, is found dead of hypothermia in the remote eastside alley where he had been driven and left, in a totally incapacitated state, a few hours earlier by a Vancouver police officer. Other VPD members investigated the death, and no criminal charges were laid.

Both cases resulted in widespread public outrage and political pressure. In the 1970’s, Clarence Dennis was an outspoken First Nations leader who, along with feisty lawyer Harry Rankin, called for criminal charges to be laid. The Attorney General appointed lawyer David Hinds to investigate, a second coroner’s inquest was held, and no charges resulted. Now, David Dennis, Clarence Dennis’ son, is the Vice President of our client, United Native Nations Society. The current Attorney General has caused a Commission of Inquiry to be held under the direction of William Davies, QC., deflecting calls for criminal charges.

Dozens of aboriginals have died at the hands of the police between 1971 and the present, but no police officer has ever been charged, let alone convicted, in any of the cases.

Here’s what Harry Rankin said in 1972: “This Quilt case is not an instance of isolated police violence. It is a symbol that has brought Indians together to fight for something better. We want a law in this country that will give each and every person the same rights. A law that says that when an Indian is lying dead on the road, and two policemen are involved, another policeman isn’t sent out to investigate.”

Will aboriginal persons in BC ever achieve equality and justice?

The Frank Paul Inquiry was interrupted for two days this week as lawyers representing the Attorney General of BC made legal arguments about the scope of the terms of reference that were approved by the Attorney General himself. Richard Peck, QC and Michael Code were seeking a direction from Commissioner William Davies QC that none of the prosecutors involved in the case be questioned about their decision not to lay criminal charges.

Commission Counsel Geoff Cowper, QC opposed the Attorney General’s application, as did lawyers representing Frank Paul’s family, the United Native Nations Society, the BC Civil Liberties Association and Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto.

On behalf of the UNNS, we argued that the Inquiry’s terms of reference were clear, that other commissions of inquiry have routinely reviewed prosecutorial conduct and decision-mauking and that the issue of why no charges were laid is of critical importance to the Inquiry’s work. We pointed out that objectively, this was a clear case of criminal negligence causing death, but that no police officer has ever been charged in the death of an aboriginal person in BC and that Crown Counsel seem to have an unwritten code that precludes them from laying charges in these cases. These observations have important ramifications for the administration of justice within the province.

Commissioner Davies reserved decision on the application, and the Inquiry resumes next Wednesday, January 23, 2008 with testimony from former Chief Coroner Larry Campbell, current Chief Coroner Terry Smith and other members of the BC Coroners Service. They are expected to testify as to why no inquest was ever held into Mr. Paul’s death.

Barack Obama’s decisive primary win in Iowa is cause for celebration. Our neighbors to the south may finally be coming to their senses after inexplicably electing George W. Bush to two consecutive terms in the White House. Despite his youth and relative inexperience, or perhaps because of it, Barack Obama is the best candidate to lead America forward. For the first time in decades, we can feel truly optimistic that the world can indeed be a better place.

“For the world’s more full of weeping than you may understand”…W.B. Yeats

This Christmas, spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves. There is no shortage of candidates; Iraqi and Afghan orphans, Darfur refugees, Katrina hurricane victims and the poor and disenfranchised, wherever they may be.

And spare a thought too for Ivan Henry, 61, who is spending his 25th consecutive Christmas Day behind bars since November 23, 1983, the day he was sentenced by BC Supreme Court Justice John Bouck to an indeterminate period of incarceration as a dangerous offender. Mr. Henry steadfastly maintained his innocence and represented himself at his criminal jury trial, where he was convicted of ten counts relating to sexual assaults committed on eight women. No physical evidence was offered to link Mr. Henry to the crimes, and it was Mr. Henry’s word against the complainants’. Crown Counsel Michael Luchenko later directed a stay of proceedings with respect to seven other similar counts faced by Mr. Henry.

On February 24, 1984, the British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed Mr. Henry’s appeals against conviction and sentence for want of prosecution, as a result of Mr. Henry’s failure to file documents with the court within time. Mr. Henry, still representing himself, then launched a barrage of proceedings from jail, some of which are chronicled in Court of Appeal reasons for judgment pronounced December 16, 1997.

On December 15, 2006, Attorney General Oppal announced that Leonard Doust, Q.C. had been appointed a month earlier to review the convictions “to determine whether there has been a potential miscarriage of justice”. The Attorney General apparently became aware of “new evidence” casting doubt on whether Mr. Henry was the perpetrator of the crimes.

Mr. Henry and his two daughters, who were only six and nine years old when he was incarcerated a quarter of a century ago, are spending their second Christmas apart since the conviction review was announced, awaiting the result.

…..

Read the Court of Appeal’s 1997 decision in R. v. Henry here: upload

Merry Christmas to all, happy 50th birthday to Shane, get well soon Phil…and may Kirsty rest in peace and receive justice some day.