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TORONTO — Sol Mamakwa, MPP for Kiiwetinoong and the NDP critic for Indigenous and Treaty Relations, and Suze Morrison, MPP for Toronto Centre and the critic for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Response, released the following statement in response to the sentencing of Brayden Bushby in the case involving the death of Barbara Kentner:
“The justice system has consistently failed Indigenous people. This long-standing pattern has normalized violence against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. This pattern must be broken.
The sentence today is just one part of the long healing process for Barbara Kentner’s family, who are still without their mother and sister. The Kentner family has asked for justice for Barbara, and for Thunder Bay to be safer for Indigenous people.
The Government of Ontario has a role to play to ensure that call is honoured.
Ontario’s Pathways to Safety plan and the federal action plan in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' findings cannot just sit on the shelf. The province must actively work to increase safety for Indigenous women and girls. A sentence for one man is a start, but not an end to Indigenous women and girls being the targets of an epidemic of violence, abuse, taking and killing.”
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