CPTnet
2 September 2005
TORONTO: CPT Canada reopens Kenora project
CPT Canada will be sending a team to Kenora for two months, beginning 17
October 2005, to continue a community-organizing project focussed on
reducing the racist treatment of Anishinaabe people in Kenora. Aboriginal
people who live in or visit Kenora routinely experience stereotyping and
mistreatment when they shop, attend school or seek healthcare in Kenora;
some report that the Kenora Police Services (KPS) abuse and harass them and
ignore their complaints. On any given day, 90% of the people in the
municipal jail are aboriginal. Currently no aboriginal people serve on the
police force or the KPS Board.
The unsolved murder of an Anishinaabe man named Max Kakagemic (age 28) is a
troubling example of systemic racism in the community. In October 4, 2000,
Kakagemic was killed by a blow to the neck and his body was left under a
mural honouring Aboriginal culture. The KPS subsequently charged Kenora
resident Justin Carembetsos with manslaughter.
Mired in procedural delays, the case did not appear before the Provincial
court until the winter of 2004. In March 2004, the court dismissed the
charges against Carembetsos as a consequence of serious police misconduct.
Investigating officers lied to the court and suppressed evidence that a
relative of one of the officers was seen near Kakegamic's body. Two Kenora
officers face disciplinary hearings under the Ontario Police Services Act.
Meanwhile, options for criminal proceedings appear to be exhausted
(Carambetsos cannot be charged again), thus denying the Kakegamic family
closure in the case.
CPT's partner in Kenora is the Anishinaabe Coalition for Peace and Justice,
formed after the case against Mr. Carambetsos collapsed. The Coalition is
calling for police accountability and is supporting the Kakegamic family in
its quest for justice. Kenora is a town of 16,000 founded in the late
nineteenth century as a staging ground for the extraction of resources from
the "undeveloped" and "uninhabited" wilderness of northwestern Ontario. It
is an important regional centre for thirteen Anishinaabe communities. In
addition to tourism and logging-related industries, Kenora's economy is
sustained by Anishinaabe spending and the social service sector that serves
Anishinaabe people.
When CPT returns to Kenora in October, it will document racism in Kenora,
explore with local churches possibilities for organizing against racism, and
support the ongoing work of the Coalition. CPT concluded its full-time
presence in the community in June 2005 after moving to Kenora from
Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) in August 2004.
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Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in
organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained,
peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. Originally a violence-reduction
initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonite, Church of the Brethren
and Quaker), CPT now enjoys support and membership from a wide range of
Christian denominations.
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