The brother of a Piikani Nation councillor who was killed in a collision on Highway 3 this past summer has set up a tipi outside the Lethbridge courthouse.
The tipi went up late Tuesday, in protest to a judge’s decision to release a suspected impaired driver on bail.
On June 25, Barnaby Provost was killed when his vehicle was hit head-on near Lethbridge by a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction.
The driver of that vehicle, 62-year-old Douglas Bagnall, is now facing charges that include impaired driving causing death.
The late 42-year-old’s younger brother Riel Houle-Provost says the tipi symbolizes the need for more justice for Indigenous people.
“I think there’s an assumption that natives will just let this kind of stuff be brushed under the rug.
“Me coming to set up a tipi here is a representation that that’s not going to happen,” said Houle-Provost.
Bagnall, who was charged Nov. 21, was released on $300 bail on Tuesday.
His next court appearance is scheduled for mid-December.