MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette, whose family is from the Red Pheasant First Nation (same as Boushie), had this to say:
"I’m really sorry for the Boushie family," the MP said Sunday. "But I’m also sorry for the Stanley family. I know most people don’t want to hear that right now. (But) the Stanley family, and many farmers in Saskatchewan, have the feeling that their property is not respected and people come on to their farms and steal their stuff.
"The RCMP aren’t responding quick enough to find the perpetrators, to protect their property. It’s essentially become... a lawless state in some ways," Ouellette added.
"I think this calls to us, at the federal level, to ask: ‘are the policing levels in these communities enough to actually make sure we have a society that doesn’t need to resort to violence?’
"The Stanley family was placed in an impossible situation that’s been building up over a long period of time. And they shouldn’t have even had the thought that, ‘I’m going to go get my gun to fire two warning shots.’ That’s not normal. Maybe it’s normal down in Texas or Colorado or other states, but that is not the type of society we want to have here in Canada.
"I feel sorry for them. They’ve essentially lost two years of their lives. They’ve faced legal bills and great difficulty."
As for the Boushie family, Ouellette said: "They lost a young man (Colten) who will not be able to reach his full potential. Have children, contribute to the community. Who knows what he could have done with his life?"
Asked if his empathy for the Stanley family might draw the ire of the Indigenous community, Ouellette replied: "Probably. But the role of a leader is also to look at things with a cool head and try and take a perspective from different vantage points."
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