121 Years Later, An Apology Is In Works For Boy's Lynching

WOw, I had no idea this ever happened. Very intersting reading.

I hope they do return the stone to the Sto:lo. There was so much injustice done to North America natives and I think the only real way to make it up is to admit the mistakes and genuinely try to reach out.

Disclosure: I grew up in Vancouver and my best friend for many years was a member of the Gitskan band. So I'm kind of biased.

This situation started out as an obviously unauthorized border crossing by US vigilantes.

Nothing has changed in 121 years: Now we have unauthorized border crossings by US ships in the high arctic. Is this also being covered up?

i hate to be the one to break the bad news, but lynching was lynching and other injustices were pretty common in canada in the past. as an example, irish-catholic immigrants (yes, i know they aren't a politically-correct immigrant group) were routinely harrassed and many instances of lynching, some in the heart of toronto(horrors!) occurred.

now i'm part irish and canadian,and my "people" were around back in those days. where's my restitution and compensation? surely, the 1/2 irish canadian prime minister can find it in his big old fat heart to publically apologize on behalf of the canadian nation and people for past injustices?

and i'm waiting for my monetary restitution.

You got your restitution, or are you too stupid to understand that? You got THEIR land, idiot!

Canadian Press

Updated: Fri. Feb. 20 2004 11:34 PM ET

TORONTO — It's "totally inexcusable" and "offensive" that U.S. police crashed through a border crossing in Niagara Falls during a high-speed pursuit that ended up killing an Ontario woman, the province's community safety minister said Friday.

Monte Kwinter said the government intends to work with federal and American officials to get to the bottom of the incident Wednesday, which began in the border city of Buffalo and ended in tragedy on Canadian soil. "There's lots of problems with that particular incident," Kwinter said before a caucus meeting on the eve of the Liberal party's annual general meeting in this southwestern Ontario border city.

"It is a citizen of Ontario who was killed; it is totally, totally inexcusable that something like that should happen and we will certainly look into it."

Lori Bishop, 40, was hit by a pickup truck that was being pursued by police after a carjacking, hostage-taking and robbery that allegedly occurred in Buffalo before the chase.

Police officers from other provinces aren't even allowed to bring their weapons into Ontario, let alone those from a foreign nation, Kwinter said.

"The idea that a police force in the United States would come across, totally abandon all the protocols that are in place, enter into Canadian territory, provincial territory and as a result, inadvertently kill somebody is very offensive to me and very troubling," he said.

"It's a tragedy and my heart goes out to the family."

Shortly after Bishop was struck, the driver got into a scuffle with a Niagara Regional Police officer and a pair of bystanders before he was subdued.

Cornielius Cross, 28, has been charged with impaired driving causing death, attempted murder and a variety of weapons and stolen property charges.


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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

Ottawa Citizen, Friday, July 04, 2003

Border crossing intrusion by U.S police angers MPs

NDP members seek public inquiry into June 18 incident
Dave Battagello
CanWest News Service


WINDSOR, Ont. -- The Canadian government was urged yesterday to file a formal protest with the U.S. after Michigan police officers stormed through customs and conducted a gunpoint arrest at a tunnel linking Windsor with Detroit.

Windsor New Democrat MPs Brian Masse and Joe Comartin told a news conference the incident amounted to a breach of Canadian sovereignty.

The two fired off letters yesterday to Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham and Minister of National Revenue Elinor Caplan calling for a public inquiry into the June 18 incident.

They also demanded that RCMP officers be stationed at Windsor's border crossings to improve safety and security for the public and unarmed customs officers.

Mr. Masse and Mr. Comartin said an incident Monday at the Ambassador Bridge in which a 22-year-old Detroit police officer accidentally shot himself in the leg while attempting to hide his gun from Canada Customs is another sign of the dangers at the border and disrespect for Canadian laws.

"These types of incidents are not acceptable to the citizens of Canada and must not be tolerated," the MPs wrote in a letter to Mr. Graham.

Mr. Comartin said a formal protest must be launched by the federal government and that U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci be notified.

"You can only imagine if this had happened in reverse," Mr. Comartin said. "If we had our police forces showing up with drawn weapons on the American side it would have created an international incident. I expect our minister and government to respond just as forcefully."

Marie-Claire Coupal, local union president for customs officers, said the recent gun incidents at the border are a sign of the increasing dangers.

"It's a busy border with all different kinds of characters coming through. On Saturday nights, it's non-stop. We see guns, knives, drugs, drunks. There is violence and officers assaulted on the line."




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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

"but lynching was lynching and other injustices were pretty common in canada in the past."

This is the logical fallicy called "Evidence from Authority". Who says lynchings were common in Canada? If you read the article (you did read the article, right?) second paragraph, first sentence it says: "It is thought to be the only lynching that ever took place in Canada"


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"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill

Don`t worry, Just Me, I think most of us here acknowledge the past injustices in Canada.

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Dave Ruston

Chinese head tax, Japanese camps during WWII and native treaties all being monied as a pay back. Catholic schools giving compensation for the evil in their schools as well. Who's conscience is being relieved?

lynching to have ever taken place in canada? actually doc, i think that's what politicians call a "misstatement."

what kind of communication do new york/ontario police have? is there a system set up to deal with situations like this? if not, why not? that's pretty pathetic. in the united states under such extreme circumstances the cops have a right to continue their pursuit.

my second suggestion is build a more formidable barrier.

crossings occur everyday? alot. you managed to pull 2 stories from a 2 year period. statistically,they're called "isolated" incidents.

where i live the so-called natives were foolish enough to sell the land to the dutch for about 24 bucks.

you know the so-called native americans came from somewhere else too don't you? who did they take the land from? are we sure there was no one here before them? it sure is a vicious cycle.

In BC anyway there is no other documented case of a lynching I have heard of. Please folks give some details if you know otherwise. After the first "race riot" in Vancouver just after the turn of the century -- which involved whites rampaging through and destroying property in Chinatown and Japantown -- a Chinese man was found hanged from a tree, but at the time it was explained as a suicide. I would suspect this is another case of lynching in BC.

There is a good one hour documentary on Louie Sam released this year. I think any gesture of reconciliation and apology is a positive step.