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Ivan Masakeyash
Julian Falconer is a Toronto lawyer who helped Reggie Bushie’s family push for an inquest that would examine accusations of neglect on the part of the regional supervising coroner in Thunder Bay, Ontario. There were a lot of roadblocks in making the inquest happen and expanding it to cover the deaths of the “seven fallen feathers,” seven Indigenous teenagers who’d lost their lives in Thunder Bay. But Falconer was committed to securing justice for the Indigenous families who’d lost their children, and he pushed for an investigation into the unmistakable patterns to the deaths of these students. Ultimately, together with retired Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci, Falconer was able to secure the chief coroner’s agreement to open an inquest into the deaths of all students. The inquest stretched on for years, and it resulted in a huge slew of recommendations as to how the Government of Canada and the City of Thunder Bay should better support Canada’s Indigenous communities.
Julian Falconer Quotes in Seven Fallen Feathers
The Seven Fallen Feathers quotes below are all either spoken by Julian Falconer or refer to Julian Falconer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 9: Less Than Worthy Victims
Quotes
After the attack on Darryl Kakekayash, Alvin and Julian saw a clear and disturbing pattern. They could not help but wonder if First Nations kids were being targeted and murdered. It was extremely rare to hear of Indigenous kids drowning on their reserves. Most First Nations people were born and raised on the water. Equally perplexing was how quickly the Thunder Bay Police wrote off investigations into the deaths. For Jethro, Curran, Reggie, and Kyle, police had issued press releases that came to the same conclusion: foul play was not suspected. Each of the deaths was classified as accidental: death by drinking too much and then drowning. To Thunder Bay Police, no one was readily responsible for the deaths of the students.
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The court system had assigned one of the largest, most complex inquests in Ontario’s history to one of the smallest rooms in the building. […] The room allocation was […] a slap in the face to the parents who had waited years for the formal investigation into their children’s deaths to begin.
Outraged and insulted, Achneepineskum, Falconer, and NAN staff began moving chairs from other courtrooms and the lobby and jamming them into the tiny box they were allocated.
To the families, this scheduling gaffe was indicative of how the cases of the seven students were handled by authorities from the very start. Real life became a metaphor for how they had always been treated […] by the Canadian justice system.
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Julian Falconer Quotes in Seven Fallen Feathers
The Seven Fallen Feathers quotes below are all either spoken by Julian Falconer or refer to Julian Falconer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 9: Less Than Worthy Victims
Quotes
After the attack on Darryl Kakekayash, Alvin and Julian saw a clear and disturbing pattern. They could not help but wonder if First Nations kids were being targeted and murdered. It was extremely rare to hear of Indigenous kids drowning on their reserves. Most First Nations people were born and raised on the water. Equally perplexing was how quickly the Thunder Bay Police wrote off investigations into the deaths. For Jethro, Curran, Reggie, and Kyle, police had issued press releases that came to the same conclusion: foul play was not suspected. Each of the deaths was classified as accidental: death by drinking too much and then drowning. To Thunder Bay Police, no one was readily responsible for the deaths of the students.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The court system had assigned one of the largest, most complex inquests in Ontario’s history to one of the smallest rooms in the building. […] The room allocation was […] a slap in the face to the parents who had waited years for the formal investigation into their children’s deaths to begin.
Outraged and insulted, Achneepineskum, Falconer, and NAN staff began moving chairs from other courtrooms and the lobby and jamming them into the tiny box they were allocated.
To the families, this scheduling gaffe was indicative of how the cases of the seven students were handled by authorities from the very start. Real life became a metaphor for how they had always been treated […] by the Canadian justice system.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
