KENORA, Ont. - Nishnawbe Aski Legal Services and Grand Council Treaty # 3 are asking that Justice of the Peace Robert McNally of Kenora be removed from office.
They've filed a complaint with the Justices of the Peace Review Council over a comment made in bail court on August 11 of this year.
The council is an independent body that investigates complaints against Ontario JPs.
According to a court transcript, the following exchange occurred between McNally and duty counsel Shannon McDunnough, who is Mi'kmaq:
THE COURT: Sometimes I think we're in the middle of a Benny Hill set here. Nobody knows who Benny Hill is.
MS. MCDUNNOUGH: Well, I, I laughed, Your Worship.
THE COURT: I know, I saw that.
MS. MCDUNNOUGH: I, I know Benny Hill.
THE COURT: Your ancestors probably scalped him or something.
The letter of complaint accuses McNally of "using obnoxious and racist language against an Indigenous female lawyer appearing before him that was a direct insult to her, to Mi'kmaq persons and to Indigenous persons in general. The nature of the comment is such that the only appropriate remedy is his removal from judicial office."
It goes on to note that the Kenora bail court deals mostly with Indigenous people who are incarcerated "at an astonishing rate" in that district. "At any given time, 90 to 95% of the males in custody on remand in the Kenora District Jail are Indigenous...In this particular case, the client is a member of Nishnawbe Aski Nation and was being assisted by our staff lawyer, Shannon McDunnough, a member of the Mi'kmaq nation."
The letter also details difficulty encountered by Nishnawbe Aski Legal Services in obtaining a complete transcript of the August 11 court proceeding.
It says the first copy that was received omitted "Your ancestors probably scalped him or something." According to the complaint letter, the explanation that was given was that the transcriptionist did not think the comment was relevant.
Nishnawbe Aski Legal Services states that the comment in question "is not a one off and is demonstrative of the attitude of many members of the bench and the bar towards the Indigenous clients appearing in northern courts."
