Outcry over Colten Boushie's killing contrasts sharply with silence in 2008 Alberta 'hate homicide'

Unlike the death of Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan, the 2008 killing of a First Nations man in Lethbridge, Alta., drew little public outcry or media attention — but it broke ground as only the second in the country to warrant stiffer sentencing as a "hate homicide."

After 22-year-old Boushie was shot Aug. 9 in a farmyard near Biggar, Sask., a huge public outcry erupted over the killing and over the racist comments that emerged online. The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations also accused the RCMP of fuelling racial tensions.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and other political leaders made pleas for the racist commentary to stop. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations has also been vocal in its efforts to re-frame the conversation — while pushing the RCMP to investigate Boushie's death as a racially motivated homicide.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/colten-boushie-george-many-shots-alberta-hate-crime-1.3727296