One solution to racist rhetoric? Empathy in conversations about crime, says this Innu lawyer

An Innu lawyer in Happy Valley-Goose Bay says more empathy is needed in recent discussions about crime in the region.

Jolene Ashini grew up in the area in the 1990s, when she says racism toward Innu was commonplace. Now, she believes it's getting worse.

A simmering situation in the town escalated earlier this month, when the Sand Bar Lounge burned to the ground. A 36-year-old Natuashish man was later charged with arson and other offences, which led to a rally about the state of crime in the town — and what others in the community say was followed by racist rhetoric.

Ashini spoke with the CBC's Heidi Atter about the need for empathy and solutions on both sides of government tables.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Jolene Ashini: I understand that there is a safety risk with people, and unhoused people, whether they're Innu or non-Innu. I think that the concern is larger and larger throughout the years, especially now with the onslaught of more powerful and dangerous drugs entering all communities in Labrador. And I can understand people being afraid for the safety of their home, vandalism of their home, the safety of their children. 

And it's also that situation of having empathy and feeling for that, because I myself wouldn't want those things happening to my own home. But then the other side of the situation is it's also not a great feeling to be in the town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and be racially profiled or discriminated against just based on who you're with.

I've been seeing my friends and my family saying that they're afraid to go to Goose Bay because they're afraid that if they have to cross the street, they might be profiled as somebody who's intoxicated and yelled at. Or told that they're hated or for fear of being harmed. Because there have been multiple death threats that have been uttered by individuals living in Goose Bay and non-Indigenous individuals as well.  I have family and friends who are afraid to go to the grocery store to buy groceries in fear of being yelled at or experiencing some sort of discrimination, or even racial slurs.

Heidi Atter: Let's talk about some of the underlying issues. We know that not all unhoused people in Happy Valley-Goose Bay are Innu. We know that it is a variety of backgrounds of people who are unhoused in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. But for those who are Innu, what do you want people to know about the history and the situations that those people might be dealing with?

I think first off for myself is that I want to express that I don't condone any of these situations happening to residents of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. I don't sympathize with these people doing these harms. I don't condone any violence. I don't condone vandalism. I don't condone any of this.

There are also those who have experienced none of this and are just chiming into this situation because we have social media now, and it's easier to add to a situation and add fuel to a fire. And it just causes this groupthink attitude where people can't see clearly in a rage situation or fear. All of a sudden your rationality is gone.

But I think it's important to take note that this is the situation that nobody asked for. And this is a part of Canada's dark, terrible colonial history, that we had a government that is supposed to democratically protect every Canadian citizen, come and colonize and take away lands from Indigenous peoples. And we've had governments come and basically, in my opinion, steal land for very minimal nominal amounts.

So we have a very new reservation in Labrador that is very young. We were told we were nothing, and for years we lived as nothing. For years the government left us in poverty of the continuous fighting between Newfoundland and between Canada.

We've all experienced these situations of getting our culture taken away from us. And I think that's a huge thing that people don't understand. And I've seen numerous occasions in the last week where people say "We have it great, we have everything free." We don't get everything free.