First Nations chiefs react to not guilty verdict in Fontaine death

CAPTION: The chief of Tina Fontaine’s home community says Sagkeeng First Nation will be “hurting” after a man was found not guilty Thursday in the teen’s death in 2014.

A jury in Winnipeg acquitted Raymond Cormier of second-degree murder. (February 22, 2018) 1.

SOUNDBITE: Grand Chief Sheila North, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak 2.

SOUNDBITE: Grand Chief Arlen Dumas, Association of Manitoba Chiefs 3.

SOUNDBITE: Grand Chief Jerry Daniels, Southern Chiefs’ Organization 4.

SOUNDBITE: Chief Kevin Hart, Assembly of First Nations regional chief for Manitoba 5.

SOUNDBITE: Chief Derek Henderson, Sagkeeng First Nation PLACELINE: Winnipeg CREDIT: The Canadian Press STORYLINE: A not-guilty verdict Thursday for a man who had been accused of killing a 15-year-old First Nations girl he met on the streets prompted immediate reaction from Indigenous leaders who criticized the safety nets that were supposed to keep her safe.

A jury acquitted Raymond Cormier, 56, of the second-degree murder of Tina Fontaine after 11 hours of deliberation.

Tina's body, wrapped in a duvet cover and weighed down with rocks, was pulled from the Red River in Winnipeg eight days after she was reported missing in August 2014.

Cormier was charged more than a year later.

The girl's death prompted renewed calls for an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. ``The systems _ everything _ involved in Tina's life failed her.

We've all failed her.

We as a nation need to do better for our young people.

All of us,'' said Sheila North, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, an organization that represents northern Manitoba First Nations.