Calls for justice system reform follow release of man who killed two Indigenous women

OTTAWA – An advocate for murdered and missing Indigenous women said Monday the release of a man who killed two women in Manitoba is another outrage from a justice system that victimizes Indigenous women and girls.

Melissa Robinson said she was shocked and angry when she first heard last week that Shawn Lamb had been granted statutory release.

Lamb pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the 2012 deaths of two Indigenous women — Carolyn Sinclair and Lorna Blacksmith — and was sentenced to 20 years the following year.

Lamb received statutory release earlier this month after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

Offenders serving life or indeterminate sentences are not eligible for statutory release.

Melissa Robinson’s cousin Morgan Harris was killed by Winnipeg serial killer Jeremy Skibicki in 2022, along with three other Indigenous women. Robinson is the co-chair of Morgan’s Warriors, an Indigenous-led outreach group assembled to honour Harris’s memory, help other victims’ families and promote justice and healing.

Robinson said after she heard about Lamb’s release, she left work early to speak with Paige Paupanakis, Blacksmith’s sister, and Jasmine Mann, daughter of Tanya Nepinak.

Lamb was charged initially in relation to the alleged killing of Nepinak, who went missing in September 2011. The charge was stayed due to a lack of evidence.

Robinson said she and the other women felt Lamb’s early release brought their own grief flooding back.

“It sent triggers right through our whole city. That fear was next level,” she said in an interview.

“It’s still upsetting to know that there wasn’t even a public advisory put out.”

Robinson said consecutive life sentences — not concurrent ones — should be imposed on anyone convicted of multiple homicides of Indigenous people.

Without consecutive life sentences, Robinson said, the system signals it’s OK to “roam the streets and go off and kill a bunch of women (because) we know he’s going to get out in so many years anyway. He’s not throwing his life away.

“The thing is, those lives are gone. They’re never to be returned again. So why should that person that took their lives walk free?”

Giganawenimaanaanig, a grassroots organization that advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, is also calling on the federal government to amend the Criminal Code.

The organization — whose name translates to “we all take care of them” — said in a media statement that news of Lamb’s release points to a “devastating gap in Canada’s justice system.”

“While Mr. Lamb has met the technical requirements for statutory release, his return to the community cannot be considered fair or just given the magnitude of harm he caused to Indigenous women, their families and society as a whole,” the group said in a statement.

It said current Criminal Code provisions don’t adequately reflect the scale of harm caused by multiple homicides.

Sheila North, an advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and the first external Indigenous relations adviser to the Winnipeg police, said she also supports consecutive life sentences.

“There should be harsher punishment against crimes like this, and it is now more evident than ever that these laws and these policies around cases like this have to be updated and need to be changed for the safety of our families,” she said.

“The system is still letting down a lot of people, and puts lives in danger.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called for consecutive life sentences for people convicted of multiple murders.

During the federal election campaign earlier this year, Poilievre said a government led by him would use the notwithstanding clause to override Charter rights to achieve that end.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s office said in a statement to The Canadian Press last week the federal government “recognizes the profound impact” Lamb’s release has had on the victims’ families and the Indigenous community in Manitoba.

“We will continue working alongside Manitoba provincial leadership, Indigenous organizations, and law enforcement to ensure justice for victims, address systemic issues and reduce Indigenous representation in federal prisons,” Simon Lafortune wrote.

“Our government will continue to stand with victims and survivors, advance reconciliation by working with Indigenous partners, and strengthen Canada’s corrections and parole system to keep all Canadians safe.”

Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Leah Gazan told The Canadian Press the country is still grappling with the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

“I really feel for a community who has suffered because of a lack of response by the federal government, (which) is not investing to end this ongoing genocide,” Gazan said in an interview.

She is calling for more government investments in community safety, basic income and affordable housing to keep women and girls safe.

“We need to save lives before it’s too late, and that is where our focus needs to be,” she said.

Robinson said the issue should be dealt with in a non-partisan manner, with the families of victims placed at the centre of the debate.

“Put yourself in our shoes for a moment, and just think if that was your sister, if that was your mother,” she said.

“Things have to change, and we need to be the ones to say, ‘You know what? Change starts now.'”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2025.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa and Brittany Hobson in Winnipeg

Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly identified the person convicted of killing Morgan Harris.