Justice still not done for Chantel Moore: NWAC to form ‘justice table’ to end police killings

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(Ottawa, ON – Press Release – May 20, 2022) – Following a four-day inquest into the gunfire that claimed Chantel Moore’s life, the New Brunswick coroner issued a verdict yesterday — calling the woman’s death a homicide. The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is horrified to find that, despite this four-day investigation, justice has still not been done for Chantel Moore and her family. The recommendations made by the jury are not binding and may or may not be implemented.

The policeman who shot M^me Moore during a welfare check by shooting her several times, including twice in the chest, was exonerated after a preliminary investigation into the young woman’s death — no charges were laid. And the jury’s homicide verdict simply acknowledges the fact that M^me Moore fell under the policeman’s bullets, without placing the blame on the killer.

Frustrated that justice has not been done, NWAC announced today that it will form its own National Indigenous Justice Table to create a justice oversight strategy to prevent more Indigenous lives from being lost to a police officer. NWAC invites the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (ACC), Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) and the Métis National Council (MNC) to form a common front to counter police violence.

“We must end the killings of police, who hunt down Indigenous people like prey,” said Lynne Groulx, NWAC Executive Director. “The killing of Chantel Moore was horrific and unconscionable. The slaughter of any Aboriginal woman, woman or man, is horrific and unacceptable. We have worked hard to demand justice and an end to this systemic police violence, but to no avail. The system is out of whack, it needs to be repaired; so we take the initiative with our community to act to fix it.”

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