Keith Brown
Associate
Article
3
From January 15 to 31, 2024, a coroner's inquest reviewed the circumstances leading to the tragic mass casualty event that occurred on September 4, 2022 on the James Smith Cree Nation reserve and in the village of Weldon, both in central Saskatchewan. During the attacks, 11 people lost their lives, 10 of whom were members of James Smith Cree Nation, and many others were injured.
Comprised of a presiding coroner and a jury, the mandate of the inquest was to:
Due to the scale of the tragedy, the inquest was one of the largest and most complex in Canadian history.
At the conclusion of the inquest, the jury and coroner issued a combined total of 30 recommendations (accessible here) directed at various levels of government. Notably, these recommendations include:
Gowling WLG represented James Smith Cree Nation throughout the inquest process. Keith Brown and Lauren Mar attended the inquest, and were supported by Bob Freedman, Emma Hobbs and Rikki Logan.
Gowling WLG has expertise both in advising Indigenous groups on the legal issues affecting them (see here for more information) as well as in a diverse range of public law matters, such as inquests, commissions of inquiry, and other processes (see here for more information).
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