Inquiry to examine shooting motives

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An inquiry into the death of Leo Lachance will examine whether organized racists activities were connected to the shooting of the Saskatchewan trapper by a white supremacist.

And local Native leaders say the scope of the provincial review should settle lingering questions raised by the incident and the four-year manslaughter sentence passed on Carney Nerland.

"The inquiry certainly is wide enough," said Gerry Morin, head of the local friendship centre and the lawyer who will be representing the Lachance family and the Prince Alberta tribal council at inquiry hearings.

"The major issue here is was there a racial motivation to the shooting...Once you get your foot in the door you can ask a lot of questions."

Tribal council Chief A.J. Felix said he is pleased with the broad mandate given to the inquiry and hopes it will put an end to questions raised by Lachance's death.

"My people need to be assured that if there is injustice, it will be corrected," he told reporters at a news conference in Prince Albert. "We want answers for our people. We want answers for our community."

The three-member inquiry panel has been given the go-ahead to examine how police investigated the shooting and whether appropriate charges were laid. It also has

the authority to subpoena witnesses, hold public hearings, and - if other racist activities are discovered - recommend further investigations or inquiries.

Nerland shot Lachance, a 48-year-old man from Whitefish Reserve, through the door of his Prince Albert gun shop in January, 1991. Because he pleaded guilty, the circumstances surrounding the case were never given a full airing in a public trial.

When Nerland was sentenced to four years for manslaughter later that year, it sparked a wave of protest in the Native community. People took the sentence to mean that Nerland, Saskatchewan head of the neo-Nazi Church of Aryan Nations, was getting an easy ride from the justice system.

Prince Albert police have down-played the racist angle since the shooting. But Morin said the failure of the justice system to publicly address political racial motivation for the shooting leaves questions unanswered in the public mind and "throws a cloud" over the legal process.

The inquiry panel is scheduled to hold public hearings on 15 days between the end of May and the first week of July, though additional hearings may be scheduled if required. The panel also has the authority to conduct parts of its investigation behind closed doors if deemed necessary.

The three members are Ted Hughes, who took part in conflict of interest allegations against former British Columbia Premier Bill Vander Zalm; Peter MacKinnon, dean of University of Saskatchewan's law school; and Delia Opekokew, an aboriginal lawyer from Toronto.

In a media release, Saskatchewan Justice Minister Bob Mitchell said the inquiry will not "alleviate the tragedy of Leo Lachance's death." But he said the government supports a "full public examination" of the circumstances surrounding the shooting.