Still no justice in Fred Quilt case

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

The findings of the jury in the
second inquest into the death of
Fred Quilt, the Chilcotin Indian
who died on November 30, 1971,
after being handled by the
RCMP, added nothing to the
cause of justice in this case.

The first inquest, held in
Williams Lake in January, was
labelled a whitewash by the

Indian people and many others
concerned with civil rights. The
jury was selected by the RCMP,
the coroner was a former
member of the RCMP. Indian
witnesses and even Indian eye-
witnesses were not subpoenaed
(although other witnesses were
and had their expense paid).
When Indian witnesses insisted
on appearing they had to pay

hen ex-RCMP Corporal James Ramsay publicized

his story recently about the RCMP’s prime concern

for its ‘‘image’’, he told only half the known tale. That

“‘image’’ which belongs to the long past was founded upon

integrity, honesty, a strong sense of justice, plus a devotion to

its frontier-days services that often went far beyond the “‘eall

of duty’’, as a little graveyard up in Dawson City silently

attests — a grim reminder of the hectic gold-rush days, in
which many of the old RCMP gave their lives to save others.

That ‘“‘image’’ which the modern RCMP police-state brass
seek to resurect is as dead as a stale herring, and no amount
of J-Edgar Hoover FBI-injected ‘‘glamor”’ will bring it back.

The transformation of a once great force, in which most
Canadians felt a tinge of pride began some 50-years ago when
the powers-that-be began the work of countering the growth
and influence of labor organization, both economical and
political, by infiltrating the ranks of labor with RCMP stool
pigeons, trained informers and professional perjurers,
provocateurs, Judases who made a life-time career as ‘‘star”’
perjurers, winning rapid promotion in the force by their
adeptness at fabricating falsehood.

That “‘image’’, roughly delineated in the Ramsay article,
just doesn’t and won't fit into the old traditional image of a
once highly-respected police force, no matter how hard its
deceit-experts may try, nor will the Hoover-F BI assistance and
advice on super-stooling help in its re-creation.

Nor can the ranks of organized labor, even if it wanted to
(which it doesn’t) erase the experience of nearly 50-years of
professional RCMP stooling and provocation in a futile (but
costly) attempt to “‘set the clock back’’. Even the most recent
province-wide RCMP raids on trade union offices contain some
salutory lessons on the role and identity of this grotesque, and
albeit, class “image’’.

Then take the Fred Quilt tragedy as a case in point, in
estimating official RCMP attitudes towards the Native Indian
people of Canada. At neither inquest on the death of this
Chilcotin Indian worker did the psychological factor ever
come up for serious discussion. But it was, and is, an important
factor, just as the untimely death of this Indian worker is now
an inefacable factor.

In this sorry sequence of events, in which, from an
attorney-general down to the meanest Establishment hanger-
on, all wanted to play ‘‘innocent’”’ and apply the official
whitewash brush to an ugly RCMP episode.

If official RCMP. attitudes are to be gauged by their
herculean efforts to riddle the ranks of labor with stool-
pigeons, informers, professional perjurers, etc., what then is
the official RCMP attitude towards Native Indian people?

There is little doubt that when a new ‘“‘rookie’’ enters the
force he gets, among other things, a psychological training on
the status and treatment of Native Indians; they are like
‘‘children,”’ like ‘‘animal,’’ are ‘‘sub-human,”’ to be kicked and
abused and pushed around at will. They have no claims upon
‘justice’? ‘‘the law’’ or the humanities. So if they need
‘Jumping on,” jump on them good and hard. What’s an Indian
anyway?

We haven’t the least doubt that when the average ‘‘rookie’”’
joins the force, he is or was a normally decent sort of chap. But
a few months of intensive official psychologizing, brain-
washing, etc., soon cleans all the elements of human decency
out of his system. After that he either accepts labor espionage
and brutalized contempt for Native Indians as a ‘‘career’’, a
‘‘way of life’’ at a moderate salary, or as Corporal Ramsay
says, he may salve what is left of his former conscience with a
steady dose of John Barleycorn, drugs or worse, even taking
the suicide route to ‘‘get away from it all.”’

The findings of the Kamloops coroner’s jury inquest holds
ample grounds for preferring a murder charge against the
RCMP member involved in the death of Fred Quilt. The
evidence given by two of the deceased worker’s family was
obviously unheeded or unbelieved, but certainly not refuted.
Until that piece of evidence is confirmed or rejected by an
unprejudiced and competent Court, the present ‘‘image”’ of the
RCMP is tarnished beyond all repair. There cannot be one code
of morality and justice for the RCMP — another for the labor
movement, and another for the Native Indian.

Even the iron-willed ‘‘Lady Macbeth’’ found the blood of
her murdered victims, difficult to wash off.

their own expenses, and Indian
witnesses were insulted and
discriminated against on the
witness stand.

The RCMP-selected jury in
that inquest ignored the evidence
of an Indian witness that an
RCMP constable jumped up and
down on Quilt’s body and it
ignored the evidence of Indian
and other witnesses who heard
the dying man make similar
statements. It found the death.
to be due to peritonitis, caused
by rupture of the small bowel.
‘‘We find this death to be
unnatural and that it was
accidental,” said the jury. ‘““We
attach no blame to any person in
connection with this death.”

This miscarriage of justice
aroused a tremendous outburst
of indignation and anger among
the native Indian people across
Canada, and among trade
unions, civil rights groups and
many others concerned with
justice and equality under Cana-
dian law. “A nation-wide

campaign developed for an open-

hearing into Quilt’s death. The
provincial Attorney General
Leslie Peterson, at first refused
to do anything, then called fora
second inquest.

The jury in the second inquest,
held in Kamloops in July, con-
cluded that the injury resulting
in Quilt’s death was caused by

‘‘an unknown blunt force applied
by an unknown object to the
lower abdomenfiand that.it was
sustained ‘‘between the time
Quilt was removed from. the
Quilt’s vehicle and assisted to
the police vehicle.”’

Headlines in the Vancouver
Sun reportirtg the verdict stated
that ‘‘Second Inquest Fails Solve
Mystery Quilt Death.” As far as
the Indian people (and many
others too who have followed this
case) are concerned there is no
mystery. They are firmly con-
vinced that ‘‘the blunt force
applied by an unknown object to
the lower abdomen’’ was the
boots of an RCMP officer.

The Vancouver Province in
headlines a day or two after
stated that ‘‘Attorney General
Calls for Use of Kid Gloves”’ in
referring to RCMP treatment of
the Indian people. To me this
sound suspiciously like saying:
“T know you didn’t do it, but
don’t do it again!”’

And despite the fact that a
man has died and despite the
fact that sworn evidence was

, given that his death was caused

by an RCMP officer jumping up
and down on his body, the Attorn-
ey General still refuses to bring
charges against the RCMP
officer concerned and to let the
Courts decide the issue. Can you

blame the Indian people for col
cluding that this is racism of the
worst kind?

Suppose the shoe were on the |
other foot. Suppose an RCM
officer had died, suppose te |
RCMP testified at an inquest }
that an Indian had jumped UP”
and down on the body of the
RCMP officer. Would te
Attorney General lay charé
against the Indians involve
You can be sure he would. Wi
then doesn’t he lay charge
against the RCMP office?
involved in the Quilt case?

The Kamloops inquest ©”
perform a useful service
however, with no thanks to He”
Attorney General or the powel |
structure he represents. rf
halped to rally the Indian peop 2
in protest against discriming
tion and police brutality: e 4
helped to expose the rae 4
system that operates in Cana
against the native Indian oe
Eskimo peoples. It helped
expose those who protect 4
perpetuate that racist system. ;

The Fred Quilt Committ
has not given up its campaig® in
justice in this case. It demar
that charges be brought agent
the RCMP officer involved. e
demand deserves the suppor”
all who want to see justice 1
tially administered 1 fot |
country by those responsible
its enforcement. =

>
=a

Fight for

Alderman Harry Rankin and
Tenant’s Council secretary
Bruce Yorke told an audience
who gathered at Kitsilano beach
last week that a justified
increase in rent, so far as city
taxes are concerned, should not
be more than $1.00 this year.

In answer to a number of ques-
tions to do with rent increases;
notice of increases; getting their
names on the voters lists,
discrimination against young
tenants with long hair and many
others, Rankin and Yorke spent
closé to two hours discussing
civic problems.

Rankin stressed the impor-
tance of getting one’s name on
the voters list and the impor-
tance of voting. He told the
crowd that the so-called Non-
Partisan Association (NPA)
was anything but non-partisan;
three of their numbers are run-
ning in the provincial election as
either Tory or Social Credit

tenants voting rights

candidates. He said TEAM was

different from the NPA only in-

that their representatives were
““vounger’’ reactionaries.

The Vancouver Tenant’s Coun- -

cil has asked permission to
appear before city council to
make’ representations on
changes needed to get all tenants
on the city voters list.

Bruce Yorke said the tenant’s’

group would ask for public
posting, during the month of
September, of the municipal
civic voters list in each of the 100-
odd polls in the city. This will
enable the tenant to ascertain if
he is, or is not, on the list and
take action to get his name put
on it, if necessary.

Secondly, tenants will ask for
the right to be added to the
voters list in the period Septem-
ber 8th to 21st, without the neces-
sity of a sworn declaration
before a commissioner of oaths.

eligibility during the Septerre

each poll.

t
wee a tenall
To be eligible to vote, vel

must be 19 years of age OF ‘i
by the time of the election, Pe
British subject, and have res! f
in the city since January 18°" |
the election year. re |
Yorke says the way it 1s ae |
even the most conscientl
canvass will miss 4 tol
number of people. If one is 8°
the voters list the requiremé ‘e
to do so at the present time a
extremely cumbersome
time-consuming. cil :
In 1970 the Tenants Coun, 7
and others got 5,000 persons ole
swear out declarations

8 to 21st period, Yorke sal®: i.

immediate knowledge of 400
fact. This is a cogent reas’ tsi

the public posting of the !!§

To Rent

Ples en
¢ A ant
WE ite oP dein
< ert to

The Prichuk family of Prince George are looking for a home. Their house on Cottonwood Island was fh Me
out and they were forced to sell it to the city for $3,900, and now cannot find another home f° “ni
Prichuk blames discrimination. She says ‘We don’t drink, we’ve got money for the rent. We are
make the best out of our life; we're trying to live decently.’ She is shown above holding the sigt ew
along with friends and her little daughter and two step -daughters. It is people like the Prichul

WE ORE Cameaals

help a heost)

op dve ere Seen,

i

(cet

circumstances give the lie to Bennett's boast of a “good life’’ in B.C.

DACIEIC TDIRIINIE__FRINAY ALIGUIST 18 1972—PA