Investigation demanded in northern shooting

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Native leaders in the Yukon want answers after an Aboriginal man was shot and killed by Whitehorse RCMP on Sept. 8.

According to RCMP, the officer had to use lethal force on 22-year-old Harley Clayton Johnnie, who was also known as Harley Timmers, after the two got into a scuffle and Timmers was choking the officer.

The RCMP report that in the early morning hours of Sept. 8, the officer, Cst. Wayne Foster, was in pursuit of a vehicle that had been reported stolen. During a high-speed pursuit, the suspect vehicle crashed off the road. The driver ran into a neighboring housing development that was under construction.

The lone officer chased the suspect. RCMP report the suspect eventually turned to face the officer and raised a bottle as a weapon. The two scuffled, falling to the ground, and the officer was overpowered by the suspect who began choking him from behind.

The RCMP report that Cst. Foster, nearing the point of unconsciousness, drew his gun and fired toward his attacker. Two shots hit his attacker, but did not stop the assault. Foster fired once more. This shot, according to the RCMP report, "glanced off the top of the driver's head at which point he released his hold on the police officer."

The suspect was flown to a Vancouver hospital where he died a short time later.

Three RCMP officers from Vancouver's serious crimes squad were dispatched to Whitehorse to assist in the police investigation of the shooting. The use of outside assistance is to ensure the investigation is fair an unbiased.

But it doesn't sit well with Grand Chief Shirley Adamson of the Council of Yukon First Nations. Since the shooting, she and other Aboriginal leaders have been trying to get their own answers into what happened.

"A number of questions have been raised," said Adamson.

Some of those questions include why a lone police officer would pursue a suspect in the dark, take part in a high speed chase through residential areas, and why the victim wasn't identified before he was shot.

"All of the questions are plaguing the family and the community," said Adamson.

A week and a half after Timmers was shot, Native leaders and police began negotiations about an independent investigation. Adamson said it took a long time to come to an agreement. She said the family and Aboriginal community deserve answers and those answers need to come from people they trust.

"They are not believing that it [the truth] is going to come from an RCMP process," she said. "It was two people in the dark. That's all we know. Somebody has to tell Harley's side of the story."

Assisting the northern Native leaders are representatives from the Assembly of First Nations. Assembly Grand Chief Phil Fontaine pulled no punches in his reaction to the news of the shooting. He questioned the race relations between Aboriginal people and police agencies and recommended better cultural sensitivity training for police.

"We are not questioning whether the law should be upheld and enforced. What disturbs us is the callous, unreasonable and reckless use of force that we are experiencing, seemingly on the basis of race," said Fontaine.

Morris Switzer, a spokesman for the assembly, said his organization is watching this case very closely as it is similar to the March shooting death of two Tsuu T'ina First Nation residents in Alberta by an RCMP officer.

"Our role is to defend the interests of First Nation people in all parts of the country," said Switzer. He said many Aboriginal people are marginalized, living in poverty, and this has been true since European settlers first came to Canada. Frustration and oppression can lead people into some very unfortunate situations, he said.

"When any segment of a society has been marginalized, sometimes the consequences of that marginalization are tragic," he said, adding that these types of incidents won't go away until everyone recognizes the troubles Aboriginal people face.

"There never will be ahappy ending if society continues to tolerate poverty and marginal-ization of some of its citizens."

He said the incidents of clashes between Aboriginal people and police forces are growing.

"Our information is that the relationship is very strained in many communities across Canada," he said.

Switzer said he hopes that the Whitehorse RCMP will be willing to provide an independent investigation team with all the records of the incident.

Neither the Assembly of First Nations or the Council of Yukon First Nations could present a timeline for an independent investigation. Adamson said she wanted it completed "as soon as humanly possible."

The Whitehorse RCMP said there were no timelines for when their investigation would conclude, but said information would be released once it had wrapped up.

In Alberta, the investigation into the shooting death of Connie Jacobs and her son, Ty, on the Tsuu T'ina First Nation is being reviewed by the Criminal Justice Branch of the Attorney General's office in British Columbia.