:Saskatoon freezing deaths
{{Use Canadian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Short description|1990s–2000s anti-Indigenous Canadian police actions}}
File:Winter Riverbank 1 (16750295505).jpg, Saskatchewan, taken during winter. During the winter months, average temperatures in Saskatoon can be as cold as
{{convert|−20.7|C|F}}.{{cite web |date=October 31, 2011 |title=Saskatoon Diefenbaker INT'L A |url=https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=Saskatoon&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=3328&dispBack=0 |access-date=September 20, 2022 |work=Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010 |publisher=Environment Canada}}]]
The Saskatoon freezing deaths involved Indigenous Canadians in and immediately outside Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in the 1990s and early 2000s, and are suspected of being linked to actions by the members of the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS). Police officers would arrest Indigenous people, who were usually male, for alleged drunkenness and/or disorderly behaviour, sometimes without cause.{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Meagan |title=New light on Saskatoon's 'starlight tours' |url=https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/new-light-on-saskatoons-starlight-tours/ |access-date=June 14, 2020 |work=Macleans.ca |archive-date=February 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203164354/https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/new-light-on-saskatoons-starlight-tours/ |url-status=live }} The officers would then drive them to the outskirts of the city at night during winter and abandon them, leaving them stranded in sub-zero temperatures.{{Cite book|last=Saskatchewan. Commission of Inquiry into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/319678398|title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild|date=2009|publisher=Commission of Inquiry into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild|oclc=319678398|access-date=September 26, 2020|archive-date=May 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527114318/https://www.worldcat.org/title/report-of-the-commission-of-inquiry-into-matters-relating-to-the-death-of-neil-stonechild/oclc/319678398|url-status=live}}
The practice is known as taking Indigenous people on "starlight tours"{{cite news|url=https://www.uregina.ca/alumni/news-aen-nfrcdaafdis.htm|title=New film renews community discussion about Aboriginal freezing deaths in Saskatoon|work=Dispatch|publisher=University of Regina|access-date=February 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081102040422/https://www.uregina.ca/alumni/news-aen-nfrcdaafdis.htm|archive-date=November 2, 2008|url-status=dead}} and dates back to at least 1976.{{cite news|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Saskatoon+police+chief+admits+starlight+cruises+are+not+new.%28inquiry...-a0105369747|title=Saskatoon police chief admits starlight cruises are not new|date=July 1, 2003|work=Windspeaker|publisher=Aboriginal Multimedia Society of Alberta|access-date=February 15, 2010|archive-date=October 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017235335/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Saskatoon+police+chief+admits+starlight+cruises+are+not+new.(inquiry...-a0105369747|url-status=live}} As of 2021, despite convictions for related offenses, no police officer has been specifically convicted for having caused freezing deaths.{{Cn|date=September 2024}}
Incidents
{{Expand section|date=September 2024}}
Among the First Nations victims who have died from hypothermia were Rodney Naistus, Lawrence Wegner and Neil Stonechild. Naistus and Wegner died in 2000, and their bodies were discovered on the outskirts of Saskatoon. Inquests in 2001 and 2002 into their deaths determined they were due to hypothermia. The inquest jury's recommendations all related to police policies and indigenous-police relations.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/ddp-hrd/docs/cat/2002/sk-eng.cfm |title=Excerpts from Third Report of Canada on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |access-date=February 22, 2010 |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610170109/http://www.pch.gc.ca/ddp-hrd/docs/cat/2002/sk-eng.cfm |url-status=live }} Stonechild's body was found on November 29, 1990, in a field outside Saskatoon, which led to an Inquiry Into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild.{{Cite web|title=Publications Saskatchewan|url=https://publications.saskatchewan.ca/#/products/9462|access-date=2020-09-26|website=publications.saskatchewan.ca|archive-date=May 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525022430/https://publications.saskatchewan.ca/#/products/9462|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last=Razack|first=Sherene|date=January 2014|title="It Happened More Than Once": Freezing Deaths in Saskatchewan|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cjwl.26.1.51|journal=Canadian Journal of Women and the Law|volume=26|issue=1|pages=51–80|doi=10.3138/cjwl.26.1.51|s2cid=144940408|issn=0832-8781|access-date=September 26, 2020|archive-date=May 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527114320/http://mr.crossref.org/iPage?doi=10.3138%2Fcjwl.26.1.51|url-status=live}} On the night of Stonechild's disappearance, five days prior on November 24, 1990, the temperature reached {{convert|-28.1|C|F}}.{{Cite journal |date=October 2004 |title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry Into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild |url=http://www.publications.gov.sk.ca/freelaw/Publications_Centre/Justice/Stonechild/Stonechild-FinalReport.pdf |journal=The Honourable Mr. Justice David H. Wright, Commissioner}} The 2003 inquest could not determine the circumstances that led to his death.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/stonechild/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811171332/http://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/stonechild/|archive-date=August 11, 2018|title=Who was Neil Stonechild?|date=November 3, 2005|work=CBC News|publisher=CBC|access-date=February 15, 2010}}
In January 2000, Darrell Night was dropped off on the outskirts of Saskatoon but was able to call a taxi from the nearby Queen Elizabeth Power Station. The two police officers involved, constables Dan Hatchen and Ken Munson of the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS), claimed they had simply given Night a ride home and dropped him off at his own request, but were convicted of unlawful confinement in September 2001 and sentenced to eight months in prison.{{Cite web|title=New light on Saskatoon's 'starlight tours' - Macleans.ca|url=https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/new-light-on-saskatoons-starlight-tours/|access-date=2021-01-09|website=www.macleans.ca|archive-date=February 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203164354/https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/new-light-on-saskatoons-starlight-tours/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3540725/|title=Left for dead in a Saskatchewan winter|last=Brown|first=DeNeen L.|date=November 22, 2003|work=MSN|location=Saskatoon, Saskatchewan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050915100829/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3540725/|archive-date=September 15, 2005|url-status=dead|access-date=November 27, 2010}}{{cite news
|url = https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/stonechild/timeline.html
|title = Neil Stonechild: Timeline
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200605044951/https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/stonechild/timeline.html
|archive-date = June 5, 2020
|publisher = CBC News
|date = November 3, 2005
|access-date = September 25, 2012}} Yet investigations into the deaths of Wegner and Naistus were deemed "inconclusive."{{cite web |last1=Warick |first1=Jason |title=Sask. man at centre of historic 'Starlight Tours' police misconduct case has died |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/darrell-night-died-starlight-tour-1.6818232 |website=CBC.ca |access-date=14 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523120833/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/darrell-night-died-starlight-tour-1.6818232 |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |language=en-ca |date=Apr 23, 2023 |url-status=live}}
The SPS initially insisted these were isolated incidents. However, in 2003, Police Chief Russell Sabo admitted that there was a possibility that the force had been dumping First Nations people outside the city for years, revealing that an SPS officer was disciplined in 1976 for taking an indigenous woman to the outskirts of the city and abandoning her there.
On April 21, 2018, Ken Thomas alleged that he was picked up by two SPS officers and dropped off outside city limits at night in the cold. This accusation was investigated by the Public Complaints Commission, which stated that it was unfounded. In a news release, Police Chief Troy Cooper said it was unlikely that there was contact between the SPS and Thomas on the night of the incident, based on video and audio recordings taken from police cars.{{cite web |title=Man files complaint against police, says officers left him outside Saskatoon |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4165448/saskatoon-filed-complaint-police-alleged-starlight-tour/ |publisher=globalnews.ca |date=April 24, 2018 |access-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-date=August 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811103452/https://globalnews.ca/news/4165448/saskatoon-filed-complaint-police-alleged-starlight-tour/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Man accusing Saskatoon police of conducting a 'starlight tour' hires lawyer experienced with the allegation |url=https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/man-accusing-saskatoon-police-of-conducting-a-starlight-tour-hires-lawyer-experienced-with-the-allegation-1.3916184 |publisher=saskatoon.ctvnews.ca |date=May 4, 2018 |access-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-date=June 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625101749/https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/man-accusing-saskatoon-police-of-conducting-a-starlight-tour-hires-lawyer-experienced-with-the-allegation-1.3916184 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title='Starlight Tour' allegation unfounded, investigation finds |url=https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/starlight-tour-allegation-unfounded-investigation-finds-1.4222925 |publisher=saskatoon.ctvnews.ca |date=December 18, 2018 |access-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-date=April 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418010412/https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/starlight-tour-allegation-unfounded-investigation-finds-1.4222925 |url-status=live }}
Censorship attempts
Between 2012 and 2016, the "Starlight Tours" section of the SPS's English Wikipedia article was deleted several times. An internal investigation revealed that two of the edits originated from a computer within the SPS. Alyson Edwards, a spokesperson for the force, denied that the removal of content was officially approved by the force.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-police-starlight-tours-wikipedia-delete-1.3512586 |title=Student claims Saskatoon police removed 'starlight tours' section from Wikipedia page |last=Zakraski |first=Dan |publisher=CBC News |date=March 31, 2016 |access-date=March 31, 2016 |archive-date=March 31, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331193307/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-police-starlight-tours-wikipedia-delete-1.3512586 |url-status=live }} On March 31, 2016 the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reported that "Saskatoon police have confirmed that someone from inside the police department deleted references to 'Starlight tours' from the Wikipedia web page about the police force."{{cite news | title=Someone at city police headquarters deleted 'starlight tour' references on its Wikipedia page| newspaper=Saskatoon StarPhoenix | date=March 31, 2016| archive-date=April 1, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401195746/https://thestarphoenix.com/storyline/someone-at-city-police-headquarters-deleted-starlight-tour-references-on-its-wikipedia-page/|url=https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/someone-at-police-headquarters-deleted-starlight-tour-reference-on-wiki-page}} According to the report, a "police spokeswoman acknowledged that the section on starlight tours had been deleted using a computer within the department, but said investigators were unable to pinpoint who did it." The spokeswoman stated that the SPS is working to "move forward with all of the positive work that has been done, and continues to be done that came out of the Stonechild inquiry."
In media
= Film =
These incidents have been addressed in two films. Darrell Night's experiences were documented in Tasha Hubbard's 2004 National Film Board of Canada documentary Two Worlds Colliding, winner of the Canada Award.{{cite news|url=http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=1764|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209011211/http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=1764|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 9, 2013|title=Justice of the police|last=Thrall|first=Christopher|date=April 7, 2005|work=Vue Weekly|access-date=February 15, 2010}}{{cite web
|url = http://www.nfb.ca/film/two_worlds_colliding/
|title = Two Worlds Colliding
|publisher = National Film Board of Canada
|access-date = September 25, 2012
|archive-date = October 8, 2012
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121008022259/http://www.nfb.ca/film/two_worlds_colliding/
|url-status = live
}} A fictional incident was also portrayed in the half-hour drama Out in the Cold, directed by Colleen Murphy and starring Gordon Tootoosis, Matthew Strongeagle, and Erroll Kinistino.
= Music =
In 2005, the Canadian punk rock band Propagandhi released the album Potemkin City Limits, including the song "The Bringer of Greater Things," which was "dedicated to Rodney Naistus, Neil Stonechild and Lawrence Wegner, murdered by members of the Saskatoon Police Department" (album liner notes).
Canadian musician Kris Demeanor's song "One Shoe" was written about the Saskatoon freezing deaths, particularly Stonechild's.{{Cite web|title=img.sauf.ca|url=https://img.sauf.ca/pictures/2018-06-05/b4fc7dd997362d3ca8c2f3cac8b860bb.pdf|access-date=December 20, 2020|archive-date=May 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527114322/https://img.sauf.ca/pictures/2018-06-05/b4fc7dd997362d3ca8c2f3cac8b860bb.pdf|url-status=live}}
The Wailin' Jennys' song "Starlight" was also inspired by the freezing deaths.{{Cite web|title=starlight tours winnipeg|url=https://melbourneclinicalmasseurs.com.au/c7jmag0c/|access-date=2020-12-20|website=melbourneclinicalmasseurs.com.au|language=en-US|archive-date=May 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527114326/https://melbourneclinicalmasseurs.com.au/c7jmag0c/|url-status=live}}
In 2017, Mi'kmaq artist Cathy Elliott completed a five-week workshop with students from Sheridan College for her musical Starlight Tour. This work was commissioned by the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/canadian-arts-community-mourns-cathy-elliott-1.4359434|title=Canadian arts community mourns loss of Indigenous playwright|work=CBC News|access-date=November 7, 2017|language=en|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327175940/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/canadian-arts-community-mourns-cathy-elliott-1.4359434|url-status=live}} in collaboration with Sheridan College's Canadian Music Theatre Project.{{Cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/nova-scotia-indigenous-playwright-actor-and-composer-dies-suddenly|title=Nova Scotia Indigenous playwright, actor remembered as 'a bright light'|date=October 17, 2017|work=National Post|access-date=November 7, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=May 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527114321/https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/nova-scotia-indigenous-playwright-actor-and-composer-dies-suddenly|url-status=live}}
= Podcasts =
The freezing deaths are discussed in podcasts such as Criminal{{cite journal |title=This Week in True-Crime Podcasts: The Case of Woody Harrelson's Father |journal=Vulture |date=May 8, 2020 |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-new-true-crime-podcasts-may-2020.html |access-date=April 22, 2020 |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502081510/https://www.vulture.com/article/best-new-true-crime-podcasts-may-2020.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|date=April 17, 2020|title=Starlight Tours|url=https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-138-starlight-tours-4-17-2020|website=Criminal|access-date=June 25, 2020|archive-date=June 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627190143/https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-138-starlight-tours-4-17-2020/|url-status=live}} and Commons.{{Cite web|title=THE POLICE #4 - Starlight Tours|url=https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/the-police-4-starlight-tours/|access-date=2021-07-12|website=CANADALAND|language=en-US|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712232414/https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/the-police-4-starlight-tours/|url-status=live}}
= Television =
The Da Vinci's Inquest episode "The Sparkle Tour" involved the death of a Native activist, allegedly as a result of the police arresting, assaulting, and dumping him in the outskirts in the middle of the night without his shoes; the incident sparks discussion between investigators about the Saskatoon freezing deaths, which are referred to as "sparkle tours."{{Cn|date=September 2024}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- King, Thomas (2017). The inconvenient indian. A curious account of native people in North America. The illustrated edition. Doubleday Canada. {{ISBN|978-0-3856-9016-4}}. pp. 200–201 (First ed. 2013, without illustr.)
- {{cite book |last1=Razack |first1=Sherene |title=Dying from Improvement: Inquests and Inquiries into Indigenous Deaths in Custody |date=2015 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-2891-5}}
External links
- [http://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/aboriginals/starlighttours.html "In Depth: Aboriginal Canadians: Starlight Tours"], CBC News
- [http://www.publications.gov.sk.ca/freelaw/Publications_Centre/Justice/Stonechild/Stonechild-FinalReport.pdf "Final Report – Commission of Inquiry Into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild"]
- [http://www.ammsa.com/publications/windspeaker/conference-confronts-police-%E2%80%98culture-oppression%E2%80%99 "Conference confronts police ‘culture of oppression’"], Aboriginal Multi-Media Society
- [http://www.lawconnection.ca/content/police-oversight-backgrounder "Police Oversight"], Justice Education Society and Centre for Education, Law, & Society at {{abbr|SFU|Simon Fraser University}}
{{Discrimination against Indigenous peoples in Canada}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saskatoon freezing deaths}}
Category:Police misconduct in Canada
Category:Violence against Indigenous people in Canada
Category:Deaths from hypothermia
Category:Crime in Saskatchewan