Tina Fontaine rally draws hundreds in Calgary, demands for change

Several hundred people came out Sunday in Calgary to demand change, just days after a jury found a man not guilty in the death of Indigenous teen Tina Fontaine.

"It is sad that something like this has to happen in order to bring glaring statistics about the way we are being treated in this country," organizer Lowa Beebe said.

• Jury finds Raymond Cormier not guilty in death of Tina Fontaine
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• Rival fundraisers reveal a country divided online post-Gerald Stanley verdict

"Tina Fontaine was 15 years old. She was 72 pounds. You take away race, and this could be any child. It is extremely heartwrenching and sad."

Raymond Cormier was found not guilty on Thursday in the 2014 death of Fontaine.

Her body was found in Winnipeg's Red River, wrapped in a duvet cover and weighed down with rocks, on Aug. 17, 2014. Cormier was charged on Dec. 8, 2015.

Fontaine's death drew attention from across Canada and fuelled calls for the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

"As each case comes out that is unjust, Canadians are now starting to really look at this and understandwhat part do they play in reconciliation," Beebe said.

"Our people are being treated unfairly and being discriminated against."

Beebe highlighted another case earlier this month, where a Saskatchewan jury found Gerald Stanley not guilty of killing Colten Boushie.

Stanley, 56, was charged with second-degree murder in the August 2016 death of the 22-year-old.

Gitz Crazyboy wanted to send a message by marching at Sunday's rally.

"Our young people are dying, they are being murdered and nothing effective is being done about it,"Crazyboysaid.

He saidthey aren'tasking for anything more than what everyone else already has: human rights. He saidhe wants Canadians to hold their elected officials accountable.

"Ask for Indigenous justice, which is just equality. We are not asking for anything else, just equality. We want the same protection as everybody else," Crazyboy said.

"I think it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I am hoping people can open up their hearts and minds so we don't have any more tragedies. I can't imagine what parents are going through, that have lost their children."

The two recent verdicts have exposed a divide in the country. Dueling online fundraisers hadraised about $190,000 for Colten Boushie and $220,000 for Gerald Stanley by Sunday evening.

"I want every Canadian to actually think, how do I play a role in this?" Beebe said.

"How am I treating my peers? Do I understand what this country was built on? Do I understand 151 years later that a modern form of genocide is happening here and what does that say about our country? We have over 11,000 children in care. Tina Fontaine was one of those."

It's now time for change, Beebe said.

"We are asking for action. I think this is a strong statement to Canadians, to the government, to the justice system. And things need to change," she said.

"Our children are dying every day and people are getting away with it. Where is the justice?"

• MORE ALBERTA NEWS |Hundreds rally at Churchill Square to demand justice for Fontaine and Boushie after not-guilty verdicts
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