The leader of the Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism says he feels discrepancies exist in the way two cases involving abused children have been treated by the justice system.
Bob Hughes says he monitored the recent case of a young girl who was starved and mistreated by her grandparents, both of whom are Aboriginal.
The grandparents received three years in jail, and Hughes says he doesn’t have a problem with that.
However, what he does contest is the decision by the justice system not to lay any charges against the foster parents of an Aboriginal boy who died three years ago of pneumonia near Regina:
“I guess it’s always a question. We certainly were concerned about what value was placed on this four-year-old child at Pense, and we continue to question that.”
In that case, an inquest was called to examine the conduct of the two foster parents, who Hughes notes are both Caucasian.
He also points out the coroner’s jury determined the case was a homicide, yet charges were never laid:
“What I’m saying is there should’ve been a court case. There should still be a court case in the case of this young boy that died — separate from the coroner’s inquest.”
According to Saskatchewan Justice, the case has been reviewed twice, but it was determined there wasn’t a reasonable likelihood of a conviction.