saskatoonjustice

Flickr

2004-11-29T22:09:00.000-08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Priscilla Settee holds defaced poster

2004-11-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

protest 034, originally uploaded by Angie1000.

As I understood it, these posters were defaced on campus.

Saskatoon has a long way to go combatting racism.

March for justice

2004-11-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

November 19 marked the first time a rally on a serious local issue has originated on the university campus for quite some time.

It felt good.

Let's look forward to more such cooperation.

It is very much in the interest of the university to work toward a safe community outside the campus limits. There is a lot of talent in the community which has yet to be tapped. Many of the people who have been forced to the economic margins are people who would like to be trained to work for the Synchotron or other prestigious projects on campus.

It is good that we invite each other into our neighbourhoods.

Welcome to saskatoonjustice blog!

2004-11-15T16:00:00.000-08:00

I am going to use this blog to document some of our past experiences. I urge you all to do the same!

Living skies and deadly cops: summer 2003

2004-11-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

110_1002, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

Of course not all the police were antagonistic.

It was just that we never knew which ones would be.

Halls of justice?

2004-11-14T18:32:00.000-08:00

110_1017, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

Neither the Police nor the prosecutors really wanted to hear the message that there was corruption in their midst.

We told it to them anyway.

The public knows this is true (it is right there in Judge Baynton's findings) and so do some police and prosecutors.

The media is trying but they will have to try a little bit harder, as Janis once said.

Truth teller

2003-08-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

110_1013, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

When he first went out with the bullhorn, Richard said he was nervous.

He didn't like being called a "kook."

Don Atchison was running for mayor and he had a truck that went around town with his message on a much louder speaker.

Atchison also waved at commuting traffic coming to work. He won the election.

Some "kooks" know the truth and tell it. Others have to be led there screaming and kicking.

The winds of change

2003-08-14T18:13:00.000-07:00

110_1014, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

Our licence plates say "Land of Living Skies."

Our Centennial slogan for next year is "100 years of heart."

This photo shows Richard Klassen speaking through a bullhorn in the days leading up to the civil trial.

We did a lot during the summer of 2003 to make sure that the people of Saskatoon knew that the concerns of the Stonechild Inquiry and the Klassen/Kvello civil trial, both scheduled to begin the same day, September 6, were very similar.

Both arose out of activities of the Old Boys' Club in the Saskatoon Police Service in 1991. And when the proceedings convened, one at the Court of Queen's Bench and the other at moving locations (the Centennial Auditorium and several downtown hotels) it became clear to the public that indeed, something was very much amiss.

Both trials heard police officers testify that whole files had gone missing. Some tried to pass it off as the normal sort of accident that goes on when offices get moved and files are switched to computer.

We can't say for sure that this phenomenon went on in other cities but we know for sure it happened in Saskatoon.

The whole city should thank Ernie Lettit for taking the Stonechild file home and Richard Klassen for pressing forward for an open civil trial.

John Melenchuk: enthusiastic activist

2003-08-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

109_0996_r1, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

John had a lot of issues.

He really didn't like the police. There were some cops who really enjoyed pushing his bottons to make him angry.

Then he would make verbal threats and be subject to arrest.

It has taken a while for many of us to understand that we really mustn't make threats even if we don't mean them.

We may have living skies and 99 years of heart but we sure don't have much of a sense of humour!

Sign a petition?

2003-08-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

110_1006, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

Kari asks a bailiff to sign the petition for a full public inquiry into the Saskaton Police Service.

Truth telling in front of Provincial Court

2003-08-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

110_1012, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

This was all necessary to create and sustain some excitement at the public trials.

The Klassen/Kvello civil matter and the Stonechild Inquiry proved to be the biggest double feature this town has ever seen!

Our weapons: A bullhorn and a camera

2003-08-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

109_1000, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

John Melenchuk and Richard Klassen relax between spurts of injusticebusting, summer 2003

A longer view of our signs

2003-06-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

120_2057, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

Not all are visible, but you get the idea.

Some took pictures

2003-06-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

120_2058, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

And we took pictures of them.

Fortune-telling signs

2003-06-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

120_2066, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

Our signs told the truth and predicted the future.

Bandshell with Bessborough in skyline

2003-06-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

120_2065, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

We really had a great time. It is nice to look at the pictures and remember how hot it was that day as I post these in November.

More pictures from June 15, 2003

2003-06-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

120_2069, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

People read the signs. They were interested in talking.

June 15 and 16, 2003

2003-06-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

120_2062, originally uploaded by Sheila Steele.

Coffee was at the bandshell. Our signs were around the park. People came to read.

It was Treaty Day so there were lots of Native cultural events going on in the park as people with treaty cards came down to get their five bucks.