By Mario deSantis, February 19, 2000

Our Justice system is racist to the very core of our Ministry of Justice, and it percolates down to every institution, our police, and our legal community. It is scary, it is true, and people are dying because of it. The RCMP is investigating allegations that policemen of the City of Saskatoon would drive aboriginal people at the outskirt of the city, would take off their clothes, and would abandon them to walk back to the city in sub zero temperature weather(1). Again, this police brutality is disconcerting but true.

On July 17, 1998 Justice Ron Barclay stated "that racism is a grim reality in Canada and in Saskatchewan. It exists openly and blatantly in attitudes and actions of individuals. It exists in the fears, in the prejudices and stereotypes held by many people and it exists in our institutions in the criminal justice system(2)" At this time, John White, Deputy Minister of Justice, stated that Justice Barclay was "dead wrong" and that his ministry was working hard to get rid of the social stigma of racism by spending $350,000 to help Aboriginal organizations deal with family violence(3).

Again, our hypocritical leaders use numbers to show how hard they work, without realizing that the texturing problem of racism is not fought with money but as I wrote in one of my previous article by looking "inwardly and take actions to get rid of outdated mental models and cultural biases against Aboriginal people"

Today, Deputy Minister John Whyte, referring to the RCMP investigation affecting the allegations of police brutality against Aboriginal people, has stated that he wants "to find the truth, and to do what we can do to restore public confidence in the administration of justice (4)" The truth of a social textured problem such as racism is not found by conducting only one investigation by the RCMP. And Perry Bellegarde, Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, has stated rightly that an inquiry is needed "There's got to be an independent public inquiry starting immediately looking at policing, corrections, the court system, looking at everything, a comprehensive review(5)."

Mr. Premier Romanow is "dead wrong" in wanting to cure our social unrest and prejudices by adding more policemen in Saskatoon and Regina(6). Mr. Premier Romanow's "Rule of Law(7)" should have no place today in Saskatchewan, in fact his "Rule of Law" should be shelved along with all the Rule of Law of the past and present communist and dictatorial regimes we have come to know very well.

Endnotes

General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/authors/desantis.html

1. Witness recalls Native man struggling with police, by Dan Zakreski, The StarPhoenix, February 18, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2. Judgment dated July 17, 1998 in the Queen's Bench Judicial Centre of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, by Justice Barclay J.

3. NEED OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN SASKATCHEWAN: Fight Against Racism and a New Worldview, by Mario deSantis, October 7, 1998

4. Police chief under siege, by Dan Zakreski, The StarPhoenix, February 17, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

5. A third frozen death; Saskatoon police give information to RCMP investigators http://sask.cbc.ca/ Web Posted | Feb 18 2000 9:48 PM EST

6. Saskatchewan Troubled Children: 40% of our school children, by Mario deSantis, January 14, 2000

7. Premier Romanow: Reinventing The Rule Of Law And Becoming Above The Law, by Mario deSantis, September 2, 1999 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/desam/paper-ReinvenLaw-Sept02-99.htm