On June 4, 2020, Chantel Moore, an

Indigenous Canadian In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada, Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fal ...

woman, was shot and killed by

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Jeremy Son of the

Edmundston, New Brunswick Edmundston is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. On 1 January 2023, Edmundston will expanded, annexing the village of Rivière-Verte and parts of the local service districts of the parish of Saint-Jacques and the parish of Sai ...

police, who were called to perform a

wellness check In the United States and Canada, a wellness check (also known as a welfare check as well as a Safe and Well check) is an in-person visit from one or more law enforcement officers, especially in response to a request from a friend or family member w ...

on her. Moore's death drew national attention and outrage. However, New Brunswick’s public prosecution service said it found Son's actions to be reasonable in the circumstances and he was not charged with any crime.

Background

Moore was a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and had recently moved to New Brunswick to be closer to her six-year-old daughter, who was living with Moore’s mother. The wellness check was asked for by Moore's boyfriend in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, who was worried Moore was being harassed.

Incident

Moore opened the door to her residence holding a knife and walked towards the responding officer. When commands by the officer, in French, to drop the knife were not followed, he fired four times, killing Moore. The officer was not equipped with a

Taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...

Public response

In response to the incident, attention was raised to the fact that Edmundston police officers do not wear

body cameras A body camera, bodycam, body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera, or wearable camera is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system. Body cameras have a range of uses and designs, of which the best-known use is as a part of poli ...

; this is not unusual for police services in Canada due to the cost of the devices and questions over their effectiveness. Moore's family questioned the decision of the Edmundston officer to not attempt using

non-lethal force Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional ...

in the interaction, considering the shooting to have been excessive given the small stature of Moore and the fact that she was only armed with a knife. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller commented "I don't understand how someone dies during a wellness check."

Investigation

As New Brunswick does not have its own police investigation service,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

's Bureau of Independent Investigations investigated the killing. This decision drew calls from Indigenous leaders for an independent public investigation into her death. Investigators concluded the report in December 2020, referring it to New Brunswick's public prosecution service to determine if charges should be laid. After reviewing the report and available evidence, the prosecution service determined that the officer's actions were "reasonable under the circumstances," finding that he was confined to a third-floor balcony and that she posed a "potential lethal threat approaching him quickly." The

Criminal Code of Canada The ''Criminal Code'' (french: Code criminel)The citation of this Act by these short titles is authorised by thEnglishantexts of section 1. is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is ''An ...

allows police officers to defend themselves and others with lethal force under certain circumstances. The independent report corroborated initial police allegations that Moore did not follow commands to drop the knife. Witnesses heard the commands. The officer, a use of force instructor for the department, was not equipped with a Taser. A coroner's inquest made 20 recommendations for ways that law enforcement can better respond to police interventions. The Edmundston police department at the time of the incident only had one functioning Taser; their total was later increased to 4 and officers were "trained and equipped with pepper spray and a telescopic baton, as less lethal tools."

Aftermath

Occurring just over a week after the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, an Indigenous-black woman, the shooting of Moore caused scrutiny to be raised over Canadian police's capability to de-escalate situations involving mental health crisis. Indigenous leaders, Moore's grandmother, and Minister Miller linked the killing to

systemic racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, healt ...

of Indigenous people by Canadian police. In the aftermath of the killing, the chiefs of a coalition of Maliseet First Nations called for an independent probe of the New Brunswick justice system to address systemic discrimination against Indigenous people. Rallies, protests, and healing walks were held across Canada to call for justice for Moore. The killing of Moore, coupled with another fatal police shooting eight days later, led to Premier

Blaine Higgs Blaine Myron Higgs (born March 1, 1954) is a Canadian politician who is the 34th and current premier of New Brunswick since 2018 and leader of the New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) since 2016. Higgs graduated from the U ...

deciding not to proceed with proposed legislation to increase the emergency powers of the police. The investigation's findings were called a "stinging blow" by British Columbia's First Nations Leadership Council. Moore's family filed a lawsuit the following year alleging that the city provided inadequate training to law enforcement involved in wellness checks and accusing Son of negligence. The city and Son deny the allegations; the claims brought by Moore's family have not yet been proven in court. In 2023, New Brunswick reached an agreement with Nova Scotia to allow that province's Serious Incident Response Team to open an office in New Brunswick to act as a local police watchdog for incidents in the province.

References