EDITORIAL: Email backlash

The reprecussions from a police officer’s misjudged attempt at humour continue to reverberate.

On Tuesday the nephew of murder victim Adam Yellowhead and Eabametoong First Nation Chief Harry Papah filed a human rights tribunal complaint that names the officer involved at the centre of the email dispute, Police Chief J.P. Levesque, Deputy Chief Andy Hay.

The complainants’ lawyer, Julian Falconer, says police and Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs immediately dismissed any racial intent in the email, without a proper investigation.

There’s no doubt the email, which labeled the suspect in Yellowhead’s homicide the “Fresh Breath Killer,”?was ill-advised at best.

Police have a duty to everyone in the community. Offensive emails or notes, regardless of whether they were meant for publication, should not be tolerated, and police should not expect a free pass when they’re uncovered, accidentally or not.

But the First Nations complaint suggests this is part of a systemic mistreatment of Aboriginals by the police department. When pressed, however, they could not offer up other examples.

Does the Aboriginal community have a right to be offended at the email? Yes they do. Is it part of a trend of systemic racism??That’s a little tougher to swallow.

Hopefully this complaint will put that notion to rest once and for all. And that could be the silver lining in this unfortunate series of events.