Band’s chief wants RCMP apology for ‘racist comments’

The Starphoenix, September 25, 2014

The Lac La Ronge Indian Band wants an RCMP officer to apologize for “racist comments” he allegedly posted on the Internet.

Last week, RCMP started investigating an allegation that an officer posted a message on Facebook describing members of the Sucker River reserve as “drunk uneducated animals shooting at each other.”

The officer and senior RCMP should meet with Sucker River elders to apologize and discuss the matter, said Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook- Searson. “When you make comments like this and you’re in a position meant to protect people, it’s very hurtful,” Cook-Searson said in an interview. “It tells me there needs to be more training and awareness of the residential school experience.”

An RCMP superintendent has apologized and assured the band it doesn’t condone what happened, she added.

The comment, attributed to the Facebook page of Const. Anthony Setlack, was made as part of a thread of responses to a news story about gunshots fired in the northern Saskatchewan community earlier this month.

“Don’t worry, all drunk uneducated animals shooting at each other,” the post read. Setlack declined to comment when contacted last week.

“To make this comment about Lac La Ronge Indian Band members is so unacceptable. There’s no need for it in this day and age,” Cook-Searson said.

RCMP have not confirmed the name of the detachment where Setlack works.

Officers are held to a high standard and are subject to a social network policy that applies on and off duty, an RCMP spokeswoman said last week.

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