When the system fails Indigenous communities again
Just this past month, on Sept. 4, Hollow Water First Nation –– located in Wanipigow, Manitoba –– woke up to a nightmare that should have been avoidable. Tyrone Simard, a 26-year-old man, stabbed his 18-year-old sister to death and injured multiple others before dying in a collision with an RCMP SUV. Survivors were airlifted to Winnipeg and from CBC and CTV News articles, statements confirmed that Simard had prior involvement with the police and faced serious charges prior to this incident.
Leanne Sanders, reporter and broadcaster at APTN News mentioned: “Simard was charged with assault with a weapon and mischief for alleged offences that happened June 8 … he also faced charges of sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching from … incidents in 2017.” And if this reads like a rogue tragedy, that’s because too many Canadians prefer to treat it as one.
Anyone familiar with Indigenous history can see the pattern: Indigenous communities repeatedly endure predictable and preventable harm. The 2019 National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls uncovered how systemic discrimination, colonial policies, and institutional failures created a context in which violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirited individuals is normalized and not urgently addressed.
Think about the issue of bail. The Hollow Water suspect was in contact with the justice system before the attack. Bail reform is debated through courtrooms and legislative committees just for the sake of it. But, when a person charged with repeated violent offences is released without supports, required therapy or adequate monitoring, communities pay for something that could have been avoided. Statistics Canada and policing analyses show that cases involving Indigenous victims often have different outcomes in investigation and prosecution, which may hint at structural inequities in how justice is pursued and achieved.
Then there’s the broader catalogue of national failures. The open wound of Tina Fontaine’s death in 2014 — her body recovered from Winnipeg’s Red River and wrapped in a duvet — is another example of how Indigenous girls who go missing are often ignored, stereotyped, or brushed aside by the institutions meant to protect them. What happened in Tina’s case is still happening now: police are still without enough resources and a cycle of social neglect.
Last year, I learned the same thing when I researched missing Indigenous girls for an assignment. What I found was more than statistics –– cases that didn’t get the same urgency, same resources, or same media attention as crimes involving non-Indigenous victims. That comparison felt horrifying: a demonstration that some lives are treated as less urgent –– when at the end of the day, blood is blood, lives are lives, and people are people who deserve to be treated equally.
Things need to change. Condolences and press conferences are not enough. Canada has a long and painful record of failing to protect Indigenous peoples and their communities, and Hollow Water is the latest reminder. This goes to show that Indigenous communities deserve structural answers: prevention, resources, and a justice system that sees Indigenous lives as equal in value and urgency. Until Canada moves from promises to action, I believe that tragedies will remain inevitable.
Sites:
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00012-eng.htm
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/231004/dq231004b-eng.htm
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2025001/article/00001-eng.htm
Photo by Sora Shimazaki: pexels.com
Leave a Reply