Change can happen: Residential school march victim finds justice in dangerous driving verdict – BC [Video]

Warning: This story deals with disturbing subject matter that may upset and trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.

Jeremy Kaastra said he’s relieved the senior who plowed his pickup truck through a march for residential school survivors, has been convicted of dangerous driving.

“It feels great to know that something has happened,” said Kaastra, who was one of four people hit by Richard Manuel’s vehicle two years ago. “It feels great to know that the struggle it took to even get here was not for nothing.”

Getting justice, Kaastra said, hasn’t been easy.

The Chilliwack resident claims he had to track down an RCMP officer to give his statement after the June 4, 2022 incident, and initially wasn’t confident police would investigate what happened.

“There’s a lot of stigma with natives trying to pursue justice because justice isn’t for us,” Kaastra told Global News in an interview on Tuesdaty. “Justice is for everyone else. Justice is to be used against us, not for us.”

Kaastra …