The Saskatchewan RCMP are responding to a call from the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations for Mounties to follow through with enforcement of online hate speech investigations and lay charges against those who post life threatening messages, inciting hatred or violence towards First Nations people.

The request from the FSIN comes following the Gerald Stanley verdict. Mounties in Flin Flon arrested two women for Uttering Threats and Public Incitement of Hatred for online threatening messages towards First Nations people Tuesday.

“This is what we expect the RCMP to do more of,” says FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron in a statement.  “This life threatening attitude must be stopped and those guilty of it must be charged for a hate crime and it must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  We will no longer tolerate these blatant acts and statements of racism in Canada.”

Cameron says the FSIN handed over several files, screen shots and other documents to RCMP after the verdict asking the police to review possible hate speech crimes. Yet Cameron says no charges have been laid.

The RCMP says many of the comments did not meet the threshold of hate speech. “We have received a number of complaints regarding potentially criminal on-line posts directed at both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.  A number of these files have been concluded. While the posts may well have been offensive, a determination was made that they did not meet the threshold for charges,” Chief Supt. Maureen Levy said in a statement. “Some of these complaints though, are still under investigation. To this point, no charges for inciting hatred or uttering threats have been laid.”

Levy says people can and will be held accountable for their online activity.

(Photo: FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron. MBC file)