Justice minister defends saying Canada ‘must do better’ in wake of Boushie trial
OTTAWA — Jody Wilson-Raybould doubled down Tuesday on her controversial reaction to the Colten Boushie verdict, saying a federal justice minister should be responsive to Canadians who speak out and protest perceived injustices in the legal system.
Boushie’s violent 2016 death and the acquittal of the man who killed him continued to reverberate on Parliament Hill as grieving family members met separately with Wilson-Raybould and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, bent on rooting out what they say is systemic racism in Canada’s courts.
Wilson-Raybould defended her comments on Twitter, which came last week after Saskatchewan farmer Gerald Stanley, 56, was acquitted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Boushie, 22, a member of Red Pheasant First Nation.
“As a country, we can and must do better,” Wilson-Raybould tweeted, prompting charges from opposition MPs and legal experts alike that she was straying too far into the independent territory of Canada’s judicial system.