Family seeks judicial inquiry over man killed by RCMP

Referring to a recent coroner's inquest as a "whitewash," the family of a First Nations man shot to death by the RCMP two years ago is calling for a judicial inquiry.

Delbert Kenneth Pelletier died Nov. 13, 2006, after being shot in the chest by a police sniper. Officers had been called to his home on the Muskowekwan First Nation, about 150 kilometres northeast of Regina, after a neighbour had called 911.

Pelletier, 44, was in the house for several hours before he emerged with a rifle. Police said he shot at them and they returned the gunfire, fatally wounding the man.

After a coroner's inquest was held in the nearby community of Lestock in October 2008, the six-person jury made 15 recommendations.

They included more cultural awareness programs at the RCMP, more training for crisis intervention and suicide prevention, better communications between First Nations and the police and a call to have local people try to help before police emergency response teams are called in.

Family members of the dead man were not satisfied with the inquiry, however.

Calvin Pelletier, the dead man's brother, told CBC News he does not believe all the facts in the case have been examined.

"This should be taken to a courtroom," Pelletier said, "Not to a [coroner's] inquest. Because they were just trying to whitewash everything."

The coroner's inquest was limited because it can not assign blame, said Melanie Fisher, Calvin Pelletier's spouse and the sister-in-law of the deceased.

"We just have no faith in this process," Fisher said. "To us it was a waste of taxpayers' money and we think inquests are a waste of time."

Many questions ruled out of order

Pelletier and Fisher had standing at the inquest, allowing them to hire a lawyer to ask questions of witnesses. They said many times during the proceedings their questions were ruled out of order by the coroner presiding over the case, Saskatoon-based lawyer Alma Wiebe.

Indeed, in her summary of findings Wiebe characterized some questions as "accusatory" in nature.

Pelletier and Fisher were also concerned that the six members of the jury were guided by Wiebe as they formulated their recommendations.

Pelletier told CBC News he felt Wiebe should have left the jury alone during its deliberations.

"She shouldn't have been allowed in that building when the jury was making recommendations in there," Pelletier said.

"She controlled it," Fisher added. "We seen her go in there two, three times. We seen her."

Regina lawyer Bob Hrycan, who represented Pelletier and Fisher, acknowledged that Wiebe did meet with the jury. However, he told CBC News that while it was not a common practice, it has been known to occur in coroner's inquests.

Fisher said the family is seeking accountability for what happened and believes a judicial inquiry would be the best way to achieve that.

"Has my brother-in-law's death changed things? My reply would be, 'Absolutely not,'" Fisher said. "The RCMP lack accountability and I can't emphasize it enough. We gotta be honest here. Those facts gotta come out. Because we're trying to stop, [and] prevent these deaths in the future."

Fisher went on to suggest that other tragedies could take place.

"How much do you want to bet that another Indian is going to die, soon?" Fisher asked, rhetorically. "I can't predict the day, but another Indian is going to die soon."

The family has met with leaders of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. The FSIN has repeatedly raised concerns about cases where aboriginal people involved in police standoffs have been killed.

An FSIN spokesperson told CBC News the organization has asked the province's justice minister to conduct a broad examination of police shootings.