Colten Boushie’s death, and the aftermath of his trial, symbolize just how far we are from true reconciliation on the prairies.
But Gerald Stanley’s acquittal is also a symptom of another malaise — a deep-seated belief that rural Canadians have a right to shoot to defend their property. Stanley’s lawyer didn’t make a self-defence argument. He argued the shooting was accidental. But the idea that a man could use a gun to defend his own property was implicit — if unspoken. Stanley’s lawyer didn’t need to say it. The jury already understood.
In this case, racism coloured everything. But Boushie wasn’t the first young trespasser to be shot and killed on a prairie farm. And sadly, he likely won’t be the last.
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