Questions remain

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ALERT BAY-Namgis First Nation and the Whe-La-La-U Area Council of northern Vancouver Island are criticizing an RCMP investigation and coroner's inquest into the February 2003 death of Lorraine Jacobson.

Jacobson was shot to death on Feb. 28, 2003 by Cst. Russ Channin in Alert Bay. The inquest concluded the first week of October.

Namgis and the council say the entire process lacked independence and they can't trust any findings where police investigate police.

"For the justice system to maintain the trust of the public it must be independent and for it to be independent it must appear to be unbiased," said Namgis Chief William Cranmer.

"First Nations cannot accept a process where the RCMP investigates itself."

The First Nations pointed out the following problems in this instance: first, an RCMP officer did the shooting and it was RCMP that reviewed the officer's conduct and decided if criminal charges would be laid; second, the RCMP decided what evidence to forward to the Crown and provided most of the witnesses called upon at the inquest.

According to a release issued by the First Nations, the Aboriginal community developed recommendations it wanted to provide to the inquest, but "the system did not allow for those recommendations to be presented."

Cranmer stated Oct. 7, "Unfortunately, despite the excellent work of the inquest jury, the inquest that concluded this week has not satisfied the Aboriginal community."