Jury at James Smith Cree Nation stabbing inquest to continue deliberating

After listening to more than two weeks of testimony, the jury at the coroner's inquest into the stabbing massacre at James Smith Cree Nation will continue deliberating on recommendations Wednesday.

The inquest, which began on Jan. 15 in Melfort, Sask., has been examining the events of Sept. 4, 2022, when Myles Sanderson killed 11 people — 10 from James Smith and one from the neighbouring village of Weldon.

During the past two weeks, jurors have heard from 30 witnesses including RCMP officers, a psychologist, forensic pathologists, Sanderson's former partner and officials from the Parole Board of Canada.

Jurors are now tasked with making recommendations that might help prevent such tragedies in the future. It is not clear much time the jury will need to complete the task, but a progress update is expected later Wednesday morning.

Robert Head, chief of Peter Chapman, one of the bands that make up James Smith Cree Nation, said Tuesday afternoon that these were long weeks that were particularly emotional for the family members.

"It was tough to see our membership hurting again. But I'm glad it's all over now," he said.

"We're just hoping that there'll be some positive recommendations from the jury in order to change some of the systemic problems that we have in the justice system and the parole board and in Canada."

Head said that if the families want to push for a national inquiry, band leadership will be behind them all the way.

Echoing sentiments from speakers last week, Head said it "would be nice for First Nations" to be properly notified when a possibly dangerous offender is being released into the community. 

"So, possibly changes in [the Corrections and Conditional Release Act] would help us to maintain that level of security for our membership," he said.

Head also called for a reliable self-policing mechanism.

"Policing is a basic human right that we all enjoy in Canada. First Nations people should have that right too," he said.

Many family members of the victims and survivors also shared their hopes for the recommendations Tuesday.

A second public inquest focused on the death of Myles Sanderson in custody on Sept. 7, 2022, is scheduled to begin Feb. 26 in Saskatoon. Sgt. Evan Anderson, a supervisor with RCMP major crimes unit, presented some information Monday as a look ahead to that upcoming inquest.