Poems by man who killed Indigenous woman removed from parliamentary website

OTTAWA — Two poems written by a man who killed an Indigenous woman have been removed from the parliamentary poet laureate website.

The poems by Stephen Brown included one about a sex worker, which prompted Manitoba MLA Nahanni Fontaine to say they showed disrespect toward his victim and other missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Brown, who changed his name from Steven Kummerfield, and his friend Alex Ternowetsky were convicted of manslaughter in the 1995 beating death of Pamela George, a First Nations woman.

Two of Brown’s poems were posted to the Library of Parliament website in 2017 when George Elliott Clarke was the parliamentary poet laureate.

They were removed today at the request of the Speakers of the Senate and House of Commons.

A spokesperson for Canadian Heritage says neither Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault nor the federal department play any role in the poet laureate program or its associated website.

The Canadian Press

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