Racial discrimination put Donald Marshall Jr. in prison for a murder he didn't commit, says the award-winning journalist who broke the story.
And when the Mi'kmaq man was acquitted many years later, the discrimination didn't end, said Michael Harris.
He broke the Marshall wrongful conviction story for the Globe and Mail in 1982. He also wrote the book Justice Denied: The Law Versus Donald Marshall.
Harris, the Irving chair in journalism, spoke at St. Thomas University on Wednesday night.
Marshall, a Cape Breton Mi'kmaq, was 17 when he was convicted and sent to prison for killing a man in a Sydney park. He was released 11 years later in one of the highest profile wrongful-conviction cases in Canada. Marshall died in August at 55.
When Maher Arar received compensation for the injustices done to him by the federal government, he got his $10.5 million in a lump sum. So did David Milgaard, who has also wrongfully convicted of murder.
Marshall, however, was paid his compensation in monthly cheques of $1,800.
"He was a native person and not to be trusted with huge amounts of money," said Harris.
He said two federal MPs are on record as saying this would never have happened to a white person.
From the Sydney police who first investigated the crime, to the Nova Scotia and federal justice systems, Marshall didn't get a fair deal, even after the real murderer was found, because he was an Indian, Harris said.
"Based on what I saw, the system was racist and prejudiced against him," said Harris.
He called Marshall the "Terry Fox of Canada's justice system" and wants a statue built in his honour in front of the Supreme Court.
Harris has worked in radio, TV and print journalism. He's the host of Michael Harris Live on CFRA in Ottawa and a Sun columnist.
He also wrote a book about the abuse of boys at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's, N.L.
With that issue back in the news after the arrest of Bishop Raymond Lahey on child pornography charges, Harris addressed the matter. He said Lahey's name surfaced during the Mount Cashel inquiry, but apparently no one followed up.
The Irving chair in journalism is a $1-million endowment fund from the Irving family to bring a distinguished journalist to the campus each year.