First Nations man may take Canadian Tire case to Sask. public complaints commission

A First Nations man who accused a Canadian Tire employee of assaulting him says he will consider furthering his fight for justice.

Regina Police Service announced Thursday it would not be filing charges regarding the highly publicized incident at an east Regina Canadian Tire in July, which was livestreamed on Facebook.

Kamao Cappo, who took the video, says hewill consider lodging a complaint with the Public Complaints Commission, which handles objections over municipal police actions in the province.

Cappo said he was disappointed in the lack of charges as he wanted to show Indigenous people they could achieve justice through patience, non-violence and honesty.

"I feel like I've somehow let them down I just got their hopes up and then dashed again," Cappo said.

The video shows Kamao Cappo in an altercation with an employee at the east Regina store.

The man had accused Cappo of trying to steal a chainsaw. The video shows the man pushing Cappo out of the store.

Protests following the incident called out stores in Canada for racial profiling of Indigenous customers.

Further complaints considered

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations has also called for a review of the decision-making process that led to no charges being laid.

FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said with the video evidence, he's pretty sure a First Nations person would have been charged if the shoe were on the other foot.

"What more evidence do they need?" he said.

A spokesperson with the Regina police said the FSIN can seek action if it chooses.

"We have nothing to hide and we are confident that the investigation was thorough," said spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich in an email.

In response to the investigation, the Ministry of Justice said prosecution can only proceed if there is a "reasonable likelihood of conviction," and if it is in the public interest to proceed.

"After examining all of the evidence, including accounts from a number of witnesses, the Crown determined it could not prove the actions of the store employee went beyond an honest defence of store property, something the Criminal Code allows," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry went on to say that the store employee may have been mistaken in his assessment of the situation, but the Crown wouldn't be able to prove that he was dishonest about the assessment or acted unreasonably.

Community reacts

Several community members also expressed disappointment over no charges being laid in the incident, including Regina woman Lorna Wesaquate.

"I watched the video myself. I thought it seemed like a very aggressive situation that occurred there. And I thought Kamao was handling himself well in the video, trying to manage that situation," Wesaquate said.

Racism exists and we have to acknowledge that.- Noel Starblanket

As for the lack of charges, Wesaquate called it "disappointing" and said she's experienced racial profiling in stores.

"I don't know what it's going to take to have that stop in society," she said.

Those sentiments were echoed by elder and lifespeaker Noel Starblanket, who said he was glad Cappo brought the situation to light charges or none.

"Racism exists and we have to acknowledge that," Starblanket said.