The Justice System and Aboriginal People:

Vol. 1

A report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba. The justice system has failed Manitoba's Aboriginal people on a massive scale. It has been insensitive and inaccessible, and has arrested and imprisoned Aboriginal people in grossly disproportionate numbers.

The Aboriginal Justice Inquiry was created in response to two specific incidents in 1987 & 1988. The first of these was the trial of two men for the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne in the Pas, Manitoba. In 1988, J.J. Harper, executive director of the Island Lake Tribal Council, died following an encounter with a City of Winnipeg police officer. The following day the police department exonerated the officer involved.

These two incidents were seen by many as troubling examples of the manner in which Manitoba's justice system was failing the Aboriginal people. The need for change was becoming increasingly apparent.

This report is by Hamilton and Sinclair who were commissioned to investigate, report and make recommendations respecting the relationship between the administration of justice and Aboriginal peoples of Manitoba and to investigate all aspects of the deaths of Helen Betty Osborne and J.J. Harper.