Jukasa News Update – Monday, June 28, 2021
A sentencing hearing is to begin today for an Ontario truck driver convicted of killing a woman who bled to death in an Edmonton hotel room.
In February, a jury found Bradley Barton guilty of manslaughter in the 2011 death of Cindy Gladue, a 36-year-old Metis and Cree woman.
The trial heard that Gladue had four times the legal limit of alcohol in her system and bled to death from a severe wound in her vagina.
Family and friends of Gladue are to read victim impact statements during the hearing.
It was the second trial for Barton: a jury found him not guilty in 2015 of first-degree murder.
The acquittal sparked rallies and calls for justice for Indigenous women.
A Saskatchewan city north of the Cowessess First Nation has postponed its Canada Day parade and fireworks following news last week that 751 unmarked graves were identified on land at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.
The City of Melville says in a statement that its council held a special meeting Friday night to discuss the unmarked graves and the upcoming July 1 celebrations.
Melville, which has a population of approximately 4,500 people, is about 50 kilometres north of the Cowessess First Nation.
The statement says that out of respect for its neighbours on the First Nation as well as all residential school survivors and their families, Melville’s Canada Day events are postponed and that the mayor and council will consult with leaders of local First Nations “in an effort to plan a cross-cultural celebration in the summer of 2021.”
It further says council encourages people to place a candle in their window or on their front step, or hang an orange shirt in their window in support of Cowessess First Nation, residential school survivors and all those who are in mourning.
The Catholic religious order that operated residential schools in Saskatchewan and British Columbia where hundreds of unmarked graves have been found says it will disclose all historical documents in its possession.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate operated 48 schools in Canada, including the Marieval Indian Residential School at Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan and the Kamloops Indian Residential School in B.C.
Indigenous leaders and others have been calling for the release of all documents related to residential schools.
Cowessess First Nation announced Thursday that ground-penetrating radar indicated 751 unmarked graves at its school site. Last month, the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation said the same technology had detected what are believed to be the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops school.
In the statement, the Oblates said they have worked to make historical documents available through universities, archives and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
They said the work is not complete because of complications with provincial and national privacy laws. They asked for guidance from organizations familiar with those laws.
All Ontario adults are eligible for an accelerated second dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of today.
The province says everyone 18 and over who had a first dose of an mRNA vaccine can book an appointment to receive their second shot ahead of schedule.
The government says this expands eligibility for an earlier second dose to 1.5 million more people.
Recipients of a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccine can receive their second dose of either shot as soon as 28 days after their first jab.
Those who got the Oxford-AstraZeneca product as a first dose must wait at least eight weeks before getting a second shot, either of the same vaccine or of one of the mRNA vaccines.
The expansion of accelerated second doses comes just days before Ontario is due to enter Stage 2 of its reopening, which will allow indoor gatherings of up to five people and see hair salons resume operation for the first time in months
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