The Being Good Relations Network of the United Church in Alberta, Yellowknife, and Northeast BC expresses our heartfelt sorrow to the family and community of 15-year-old Hoss Lightning of Samson Cree Nation. Hoss was shot dead by the RCMP in Wetaskiwin AB after he called 911 asking for help. Please see this link for details of the incident and calls for change.

This utter tragedy should never have happened. We name his deep value as an Indigenous child, a relative, and a friend.  We grieve this young life cut short. We grieve that he did not find the help he needed. We mourn this entirely preventable killing.

We name that Hoss was seeking help, and that yet again, a call from a person in need resulted in a shooting death instead. We name that police shootings disproportionately target Indigenous people across Canada, and that this has been happening for many years, and continues. Between August 29 and September 8 2024, across Canada, six Indigenous people died at the hands of police.

This child’s death is part of a much bigger pattern that must stop, and that could stop. Communities, loved ones, and experts have offered many recommendations that would lead to far fewer deaths, injuries, and traumas. Yet they are not being implemented, and in some cases, the data needed to put the changes in place are not even being gathered. This is not truth. This is not reconciliation.

We fully support the Lightning and Saddleback families in their calls for “a transparent and accountable investigation in which the people of Samson Cree Nation remain informed of the outcomes; federal and provincial governments (to create) greater access to funding for mental health and community-based support services; and that the chiefs of Treaty 6 call for greater cooperation and a serious policy reform on policing and de-escalation training when it comes to Indigenous Peoples.”

We ask the people of Wetaskiwin, Ponoka, and beyond to come to the vigil when it is arranged.

We affirm these calls from Brooks Arcand-Paul, Alberta NDP MLA for Edmonton-West Henday and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Alberta NDP MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford,

“We hope for a fulsome and thorough investigation from ASIRT on the events that led to this tragedy.

We reiterate the need for a comprehensive approach to fixing the structural problems with policing in this province.

We stand with our colleagues who have called on the UCP to begin the gathering of race-based data, and passing the Anti-Racism Act they voted down in 2022.

This is a terrible loss to the community and to the Samson Cree Nation. We call for a fully transparent and timely investigation of this incident, as well as a commitment to structural reform of policing in the province.”

The Being Good Relations Network brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the United Church and beyond in the treaty lands of Alberta, Northeast BC, and the Northwest Territories.