More than 100 turned out to Friday night’s Take Back The Night march 250News photo

Prince George, BC – The Regional Manager of the Native Courtworkers Association used Friday night’s annual Take Back The Night march and rally to draw attention to a ‘changing landscape’ between Aboriginals and the Prince George RCMP.

"In the past, the landscape has not looked very well," Pam Scorah (at right) told the women marchers gathered on the lawn of City Hall.

She said she has spent the past year meeting with officers on Wednesday evenings to talk about Aboriginal people, and "who we are."

Courtworkers assist Aboriginals navigating their way through the court system and, in doing so, have a lot of contact with the RCMP.  But Scorah said she found many of the workers were, themselves, afraid, "so I thought I would show them how, then ask them all to develop relationships with the RCMP."

"So that’s what we’ve done this year and we get a lot of good feedback from that."  Scorah credited Prince George Superintendent, Eric Stubbs, with much of the positive progress, saying he’s been a great addition to the local detachment and she’s excited about the shape of this new relationship.

Meantime, Scorah has pledged to continue pressing for legislative changes that she feels continue to put Aboriginal women at risk on the Highway of Tears.  Currently, she told the crowd, when someone is charged with a crime in Prince George, they must travel to the city for their court appearances, even if they live in Vanderhoof, Burns Lake, or elsewhere.  Oftentimes, she said, they cannot afford transportation and are forced to hitchhike.  Scorah would like to see video-conferencing used for at least some of the scheduled court appearance.  She plans to approach new Justice Minister Suzanne Anton to discuss the issue.