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Okanagan Nation blasts former Indigenous healer's appeal in assault case
The alliance says the appeal forces survivors back into court and reflects failures by the justice system to protect Indigenous women.
- On Monday, November 9, the Syilx Okanagan Nation Alliance condemned an appeal by Donald Wayne Ashley ahead of his Kelowna court hearing, calling it an "unconscionable attempt to evade" accountability.
- During a 2024 jury trial, Ashley was convicted of common assault for sexually assaulting women on Penticton Indian Band Land in 2022, receiving a two-year probation order and a one-year ban on healing sessions.
- Penticton Indian Band Chief Greg Gabriel stated under Syilx law there was no exoneration for Ashley's actions, emphasizing no "traditional medicine practices can erase the absence of consent or be used to excuse harm."
- The ONA previously criticized the Canadian legal system for failing to protect their community, calling out governments for failing to uphold obligations from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
- This appeal forces survivors and their families to have their experiences dragged back through court, while the ONA continues to emphasize the severe psychological impact of these acts compounded by institutional abandonment.
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Total News Sources13
Leaning Left12Leaning Right0Center0Last UpdatedBias Distribution100% Left
Bias Distribution
- 100% of the sources lean Left
100% Left
L 100%
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