{"id":49490,"date":"2018-02-23T19:02:03","date_gmt":"2018-02-24T00:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=49490"},"modified":"2018-07-16T15:40:32","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T19:40:32","slug":"taking-action-brock-moves-to-create-new-vice-provost-role-to-support-indigenous-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2018\/02\/taking-action-brock-moves-to-create-new-vice-provost-role-to-support-indigenous-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking action \u2014 Brock moves to create new Vice-Provost role to support Indigenous education"},"content":{"rendered":"

This statement was issued on 23 Feb. 2018 by University President and Vice-Chancellor Gervan Fearon:<\/em><\/p>\n

As President of Brock University, I want to emphasize our institution\u2019s sympathy and support to the families of Tina Fontaine and Colten Boushie, and to Indigenous students, faculty, staff and Indigenous communities in the Niagara region and across Canada.<\/p>\n

It is understandable that people have reacted with anguish and anger after not-guilty verdicts in the murder trials of the two young Indigenous Canadians.<\/p>\n

Canadians have in recent years been made painfully aware of a history of harrowing treatment of Indigenous people. Shocked and haunted by that past, across the country many have longed for progress achieved through real reconciliation, and have watched with hope as processes were created with the intention of finding that goal. The journey is fraught with difficulty, and this month\u2019s court cases will have left many Canadians feeling deprived of a sense of justice or moral accountability.<\/p>\n

Tina Fontaine had become a tragic symbol for the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, of whom more than a thousand have been slain or have disappeared. When the 15-year-old\u2019s body was pulled from Winnipeg\u2019s Red River in 2014, it had a particularly debilitating effect on communities across the country.<\/p>\n

On March 8, when members of the Brock University community hold events on our campus to recognize International Women\u2019s Day, I am certain that Tina Fontaine will be in our thoughts.<\/p>\n

Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man, was shot and killed on a Saskatchewan farm in a 2016 incident that made international headlines. On February 9th<\/sup>, a jury acquitted farmer Gerald Stanley of a charge of second-degree murder in the case, a ruling which has had repercussions across Canada and beyond.<\/p>\n

An Open Letter<\/a> to Canada\u2019s university presidents, from Indigenous faculty and allies at universities, criticizes the court\u2019s decision as \u201ca travesty of justice\u201d, and calls on universities to take meaningful measures by:<\/p>\n