The lone Saskatchewan participant on First Contact, a reality TV series that aims to dispel stereotypes, says it changed her view of Indigenous people.
“I got given an opportunity of a lifetime that most people will never get so all I can say, watch this journey through my eyes and just listen, it will impact everybody who watches this show," said Laurie Bencharski, of Prince Albert.
The second season of First Contact premiers Tuesday on APTN. It documents a journey that starts in eastern Canada and moves west.
When Bencharski agreed to be on the series, she only knew it was a cross-Canada trip. When she learned of the show’s premise and that participants would meet the family and friends of Colten Boushie, she knew it would be intense.
“My reaction was, wow this is going to be deep and there's going to be some really hard topics," she said.
Colton Boushie was shot in 2016 by farmer Gerald Stanley. A jury found Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in Boushie’s death.
Elders from Red Pheasant Cree First Nation along with Boushie’s mom, Debbie Baptiste, sat down with the First Contact participants for about three hours.
“At first I wasn’t too sure I wanted to meet these people. I had a lot of anger, but I did not have hate,” Baptiste told CTV News.
She saw a shift in their thinking by the end of the meeting, she said.
"I was happy to share my grief I went through and I wanted to see if that somehow that could change them."
