Premier’s words got people to pay attention; maybe that was the point

I learned long ago that solutions to violence begin with the survivors.

In other words, those who have not experienced violence can listen, learn and, after that, participate in finding solutions — but it is survivors of violence who know first and foremost how to address it.

This is why the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is one of the most effective and successful processes this country has engaged with its violent past. It was driven by and designed with residential school survivors at the centre.

This is also why justice in criminal trials doesn’t really occur without the participation of the victims and their children, families and communities.

This brings me to recent comments by Premier Wab Kinew, who was asked Monday to comment on last week’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling that rejected mandatory one-year minimum sentences for possessing child pornography.

“Child sexual abuse images and video, this is like one of the worst things that anyone can do,” Kinew told media. “Not only should (you) go to prison for a long time, they should bury you under the prison. You shouldn’t get protective custody. They should put you into general population, if you know what I mean.”

Referring to possessors of child pornography as “skinners” — a slang term used by prisoners to describe pedophiles and sex offenders — Kinew called them “the worst.”

Kinew doubled down on his comments during the legislative session and with reporters, saying people who possess child pornography should experience “the code on the streets.”

Critics from the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba accused the premier of calling for “extrajudicial vigilante justice” and misunderstanding the decision.

A few political commentators pulled out the tired (and, frankly, lazy and overused) stereotype of Kinew as an Indigenous male with past legal troubles.

Few pointed out the irony around an Indigenous leader calling for “the code on the streets” delivered by inmates — many of whom would be Indigenous — on “skinners” who, in some cases, might also be Indigenous.

Others marvelled at the populism of the NDP premier’s words and compared them to responses by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Pollievre, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

All of these takes, however, miss much of the meaning and purpose of Kinew’s response.

He is an intergenerational survivor of sexual abuse. Kinew’s father was raped while in residential school — something his son reported on frequently while a TV journalist and wrote about in his memoir The Reason You Walk.

I am an intergenerational survivor, too. My grandfather was sexually assaulted while in residential schools, and so were nearly two dozen other members of my family when they were children.

Nothing ever happened to the perpetrators of those crimes. Many were rewarded for their “work” by churches, schools and governments.

In some cases, the sexual abusers were Indigenous peoples: older children, school employees or, worst and most painful of all, relatives.

Sexual violence is a national epidemic throughout society, but it’s something perhaps best understood by Indigenous peoples.

In other words, I — like the Manitoba premier — do not have a lot of sympathy for those who sexually prey upon children. These people have created harm that has devastated our lives, families and communities for generations.

I, too, would like to see some of them buried once and for all.

At the same time, Kinew is well-known for being a strategic, savvy speaker and thinker who knows how to influence. He was, of course, in media before he was in politics.

“The role of us in the legislative and executive branch is to offer counterbalance to the judicial branch and vice versa,” he told media when asked Tuesday to follow up on his remarks from the day before.

“I feel confident that what I’ve been putting on the record this week is in line with what Manitobans believe.”

If Kinew earned a living as a lawyer, judge, correctional officer or prison warden, his words would be a problem.

As premier, he has influence, but he was not proposing a law subjecting people who possess child pornography to vigilante justice. He was stating an opinion — something politicians are elected to do.

He might be also stating a fact. For generations in this country, children have been sexually abused and, for far too many, justice never comes. In some cases, “the code on the streets” delivers what prosecutors and judges cannot.

It’s a situation that demands attention and might just need some drastic language to make that happen.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca