Canadian Senator delivers keynote at Northern Justice Symposium
Dignitaries from across the province assembled in Prince Albert to discuss the justice system and initiatives that are benefitting Saskatchewan’s northern residents.
Saskatchewan Liberal Senator Lillian Dyck kicked off the justice symposium, which is being held at Plaza 88 in Prince Albert between May 15 and 17. Her speech encompassed a number of topics, including her own bill, S-215, Missing and murdered Indigenous women and Girls, and peremptory challenges during jury selection.
Dyck said she hopes northern leaders understand racism is very real, and the challenges faced by Indigenous women in Canada need to be addressed. She sees her bill, S-215, as a tool which can help make an immediate change. The bill calls on judges to consider the victimization of an Indigenous woman as an aggravating factor during sentencing.
“If an Aboriginal woman is physically assaulted, sexually assaulted or murdered, then if a person is found guilty of that, then a judge will have to say ‘this woman is as valuable or as important as a non-aboriginal woman,” Dyck explained. “With an Indigenous victim, the charges were downgraded more often.”