Diggstown (2019) s03e05 Episode Script

1
He was the most perfect little boy.
AMY: I read all the books.
TERRI: My sister was my doula.
GLORIA: Lyle and me painted the nursery.
(INDIGENOUS VOCABLES)
TERRI: I still remember
how she screamed
When they took him.
(INDIGENOUS VOCABLES)
JEN: I breastfed her.
- Napped.
- Lyle was sobbing.
Woke up
There were two cops at the door.
- (INDIGENOUS VOCABLES)
- (CAR DOORS SLAMMING)
(BABY CRYING)
(DOOR BANGING)
MARGARET: They handed me a
card from some social workers.
- (BABY CRYING)
- Stay the hell away from my nephew.
"We took your little
girl, here's a card".
RONNIE: Don't touch me, no.
- Baby was gone.
- No one would explain.
- No! He's my nephew! He's my family!
- (BABY CRYING)
They planned to take her all along.
IVY: I didn't do anything!
RONNIE: He's my nephew!
- (BABY CRYING)
- It's okay, I'm here.
It took years to get him back.
Ronnie Maloney, you're
under arrest for kidnapping.
- (BABY CRYING)
- JEN: I never got her home.
- (BABY CRYING)
- MARGARET: She had a lot of problems,
being in the system for so long.
- Trauma.
- Nicholas!
- (NICHOLAS CRIES)
- She doesn't want to see me now.
RONNIE: You can't have him!
Give him back, he's my nephew!
- (SIREN BLARING)
- (INDIGENOUS VOCABLES)
IVY: I didn't do anything wrong.
I'm all he has. I just want him back.
(INDIGENOUS VOCABLES)
This is amazing work, Amish.
Can you just maybe
snip that last line
of Margaret's though?
If I'm gonna get this
class action certified,
the video and the
affidavits all need to show
the harm suffered by
the women is the same.
I just don't understand how it's legal
for the government to take
someone's child with no warning.
I hope they get a million dollars each.
Well right now we're just trying
to get this policy overturned.
AMISH: Give 'em hell.
I'm gonna try.
Thanks.
Your Honour, we're
submitting these affidavits
and the accompanying video as evidence
of similar harm this province's
birth alert policy caused my clients.
SCOTT: Your Honour,
these are moving stories,
no question.
But the personal accounts
of all these women,
from all walks of life,
does not a class action make.
MARCIE: These women are
either Indigenous or black,
they're all poor.
And they all suffered
an emotional devastation
as a result of this
province's birth alert policy.
My friend here has yet to
demonstrate a uniformity of harm.
The affidavits that I provided
the court will show this.
SCOTT: With respect, all
I'm hearing Ms. Diggs say
is that the race and
economic status of her clients
makes their experiences identical?
I'm sorry, but I find that offensive.
Mr. Riley, that has to be
one of the most cynical rounds
of sophistry I've heard in my life.
And I spend my days with lawyers.
Thank you both.
First thing tomorrow,
I'll give you my ruling.
COLLEEN: Marcie! Hi!
MARCIE: Hey Col
good morning, Your Honour.
I heard about the judgeship. Congrats.
Thanks.
I just felt like I needed a change,
you know, with everyone leaving,
it seemed like the right time.
For the record,
some of us weren't
given much of a choice.
And look at you,
you've never looked happier.
Getting to fight the good fight
with a blank cheque in your back pocket.
- Oh, to dream.
- Let's just hope the dream
doesn't become a nightmare.
Stop looking for the rain, Marcie.
(SMOOTH JAZZY MUSIC)
I don't do that.
(SMOOTH JAZZY MUSIC)
(MARCIE SIGHS)
Like the new digs.
Hey, what are you doing here?
I thought your Silicon Valley friend
would've had you
installed in a glass tower.
I'm not a glass tower kind of girl.
How's Clayton Park treating ya?
It is what it is.
You ever think about making a change?
Ah, not really a glass
tower kinda girl either.
MARCIE: No glass tower.
No office actually at the moment.
What's more important to me
is getting a good team together.
(SIGHS) I'm good.
Was there anything else?
Ah, yeah, a favour.
Ah, my client Ivy, 16, in foster care,
- she just had a baby
- Yeah, I know Ivy.
She was dealing with a birth alert.
- How'd it go?
- MARCIE: Bad.
Baby ended up in care,
and now Ivy has just gotten word
that he's in a foster
family in Cape Breton.
- Cape Breton!
- MARCIE: Yeah.
Ivy's in school.
There's no way she's gonna see him
- all the way out there.
- I got it.
(RHYTHMIC AMBIENT MUSIC)
Thanks, girl.
(RHYTHMIC AMBIENT MUSIC)
(CHUCKLES) Yeah, I can
think of worse places
- in a pandemic to be stuck than Santiago.
- LAWYER 2: Leave it to Mueller!
I ended up in my mother's
basement for four weeks.
AVERY: I'll tell you what, I did
learn to make a pretty mean paella.
- (MAN LAUGHING)
- AVERY: It was good, it was good.
- (GLASS BREAKING)
- CARMEN: Having a nice lunch
laughing about all the
lives you've destroyed?
What's your problem, lady?
Hey.
Hey!
What the hell is that about?
You don't even remember me.
Just another day at the office, right?
I I, I prosecuted you?
It's Carmen.
(STAMMERING) The sexual assault case.
Sexual assault of a minor.
Pretty key detail for a teacher.
Listen, we withdrew the charges.
You think that matters?
You think the search results
ever go away for a story like:
"Grade six teacher charged
with assaulting a student"?
- Look, I was just doing my
- Your job?
Yeah, must be nice having a job.
I haven't had a steady
one since I was charged.
Just lost another one
at MacLean thanks to you.
- Maybe if you come by the office I could
- No.
I don't want to have a
conversation with you.
I just hope that you burn in hell.
(TENSE MUSIC)
♪
Ronnie, you know this
kidnapping charge is bogus
but let's get our game faces on
before the judge gets here, okay?
That's what this whole thing is to them.
My life. Ivy's. A game.
COURT REGISTRAR: All persons with
matters in this court please rise.
The Honourable Justice
Colleen MacDonnell presiding.
COLLEEN: Please be seated, everyone.
ELLERY: Doctor Fortune,
as the court has
recognized you as an expert
in the effectiveness of
child welfare programs,
do you consider care harmful
to Indigenous children?
While I recognize the
concerns of the past,
I assure you that the system has made
very humane strides over the years.
ELLERY: So one woman's bad experience
can't be used to
condemn an entire system?
DOUG: Your Honour,
this is a simplification
- of our argument to say the least.
- You'll get a chance to examine.
Proceed.
Of course not.
The priority is always
to return a child home.
Assuming home is safe.
And that's the key, isn't it?
Safety.
So how does the government's
birth alert policy play into this?
DR. FORTUNE: If the government
has any reason to believe
that a child could be in danger,
they have to act.
In the best interest of the child.
Sounds pretty reasonable to me.
DOUG: Dr. Fortune,
I've looked through your résumé
and I see you've published two
papers on the effects of care
for youth in Northern
Manitoba. Is that correct?
Yes.
Have you conducted research
on the effects of care
- on urban Indigenous youth?
- No.
What about Indigenous
youth in Nova Scotia?
No, I have not.
DOUG: Would you say that the
separation policies of the government
have led to the destruction
of Indigenous families?
That's beyond the scope
of my research, I'm afraid.
So on one of the central
questions of this case,
you have zero insight to offer.
- Excuse I'm an academic.
- Objection.
COLLEEN: That's a fair suggestion.
ELLERY: Your Honour, Dr.
Fortune is Indigenous.
Mr. Paul is insulting his
heritage and lived experience.
DOUG: I'm insulted that
you presented an expert
who can't speak to the heart
of the matter, Counsellor.
Doug (CLEARS THROAT) Mr. Paul,
let's watch our tone.
Do you have any further
questions for Dr. Fortune?
No, Your Honour, I'm done.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Hey, look at you! Looking
very heroic and military.
(REGGIE CHUCKLES)
- Ian, this is
- Louise.
It's good to finally meet the man
who launched an endless stream
of superlatives out of this guy.
Ah, come on, let's grab a table.
Finally.
Got my two favourite people together!
Is it strange being back in Canada?
I'm pretty jet-lagged,
so everything's a
little strange right now.
How's the peacekeeping biz?
It's okay.
We're thin on the ground these days, so
there really needs
to be more deployment.
I'd say that's a good thing.
Fewer deployments
makes oversight easier.
I guess, but
at the end of the day you're
doing less good in the world.
But without the proper oversight,
more bad gets done too.
Ah, you know, Ian probably
doesn't want to talk about work.
IAN: I'm not actually clear what
you mean by "proper oversight".
LOUISE: Well, it's due
to a lack of oversight
that peacekeepers don't have
the best reputation anymore
Sorry, they don't?
That's a surprise to me.
I don't know, Dad, what do you think?
Who do you think wins
the reputation Olympics?
Peacekeepers or lawyers?
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC)
(SIGHS) Why don't we order some wine.
Red or white?
- Red's fine.
- White.
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC)
I'll just get a bottle of each.
- (BACKGROUND TV CHATTER)
- AVERY: Carmen was right,
her search results are a nightmare.
I mean, don't these people realize
that we withdrew the charges?
But all anyone remembers
are those initial headlines.
TV REPORTER: And this
courtroom controversy
went viral with the Internet
You have got to be kidding me.
- TV REPORTER: From a video used to support
- What?
- a class action
- What's up?
TV REPORTER: The video
posted anonymously,
is causing an online uproar.
MARCIE: That's the raw video.
How the hell did that
get on the Internet?
Uh, I don't understand,
isn't this free publicity for your case?
What's the problem?
(DRAMATIC MUSIC SWELLS)
Your Honour, the discrepancy
between the affidavits,
the video evidence
presented by Ms. Diggs
and the raw footage which
was broadcast last night
- is highly disturbing.
- Discrepancies of basic editing.
The stories themselves remain identical.
It's clear from the raw footage,
Ms. Diggs was cherry picking her facts
to intentionally mislead this court.
Nothing could be further
from the truth, Your Honour,
I used my professional
judgement to determine whether
The edited video and the
affidavits filed imply uniformity.
The unedited video
completely refutes it.
Some of these women had their
children returned mere days later.
Some were given apologies, some had
This is about how the
government's birth alert policy
uniformly wreaked havoc
on these women's lives.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Ms. Diggs, I'm sorry but the
court agrees with Mr. Riley.
The request to have your
class action certified
is denied.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Hey, Cleo!
Oh, hi Iris.
I'm just about to meet with a client.
IRIS: Oh, it'll take five seconds.
It's about Ivy Maloney's baby, Nicholas.
I hear he's gone to Cape Breton?
Yeah, we found him a great
set of foster parents.
It's just it's so far
away for his mother.
Have you guys tried to looking
in Colchester, or the Valley?
You know how it works. Sure,
there are closer foster parents
but they don't want
an infant or they do,
but they're not
certified for infant care.
Well what if I find someone?
No, we just got him settled.
We can't be shuttling that
poor baby across the province
like he's a sack of mail.
Isn't one more trip worth it
if it means he gets to see his mother?
Okay.
Give it a whirl.
Thank you!
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
Marcie Diggs.
- MARCIE: Well if it isn't Mr. Barclay.
- TONY: How's it going?
How are your folks?
I think they're gonna be fine.
So why do you seem to
have your entire office
- spread out on this bench?
- (CHUCKLES)
I'm, uh, actually between
offices at the moment.
You don't need to camp out here,
you know I have lots of space.
You have that boardroom, don't you?
MARCIE: You know, with
all these clients,
that would come in
pretty handy right now.
TONY: It's all yours. Come by whenever.
- MARCIE: It'll just be for a few days, I'm
- (PHONE DINGS)
I'm actually going to
check out some spaces now.
You're the best.
DOUG: Your Honour,
Ms. McKay is a respected elder
who I've asked to give critical
social and historical context
to the grave harm facing
Indigenous children
- taken from their communities.
- Your Honour,
she has no pertinent educational
background or training.
Whatever happened to "lived experience"?
This witness is revered
in her community.
ELLERY: We simply don't
believe Ms. McKay has enough
relevant experience to assist the court.
DOUG: She's a child
advocate and a clan mother.
Maybe that's what she
does in her spare time.
- Her spare time?
- ELLERY: Well professionally,
Ms. McKay runs a small coffee shop.
DOUG: Your Honour, it is very important
that the court understand
Ms. McKay's role here.
Her wisdom and authority
has been passed down
through generations
of matriarchal lines.
- I'm afraid I have to agree with
- Colleen.
Your Honour.
In many communities, the law does
not function without clan mothers.
It is people like Ms. McKay
who'd be sitting in your place.
And that's perfectly
understandable, Mr. Paul.
However, I'm grasping at a rationale
as to why this witness's testimony
is relevant to a child abduction case.
And I'm-I'm not seeing it.
Please call your next witness.
MARCIE: So it's a glass tower?
I love a sun-drenched space.
Well it's certainly bright. I just,
I think maybe our clients might find
a space like this a
little little intimidating.
VIVIAN: So cross towers off the list?
Yeah, maybe something a little more
- Approachable.
- Got it.
So
How are you feeling about
our little endeavour so far?
Good! Uh, I'm just,
I'm really focused on,
on building the team right now.
I heard about that.
(SCOFFS) Of course.
Well, you know, I hope
that she considers.
Ellery's smart. She's sharp.
No question.
But maybe not quite
right for this venture.
Oh, are you saying I shouldn't hire her?
Oh, I don't tell you what to do. I mean,
we established that in our agreement.
So what are we talking about?
VIVIAN: My preference,
that's all that it is,
is that you go in a different direction.
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
Martin tells me you're
a beast in the courtroom.
ELLERY: When did you talk to my boss?
You know he brags about you, Ellery.
- Unsolicited.
- Mm-hmm, I bet it was unsolicited.
CHOZANNE: In fact,
he told me he was speaking to
the justice minister about you.
Okay, Mom, we don't have to
have a symposium on my work
every single time we get together.
What's wrong with me
wanting to help my daughter
along in her career?
Marcie Diggs offered me a job.
Dear God, Ellery!
You're gonna throw
your entire career away
to go work for some radical?
I just want some new challenges
- and she's not a radical.
- No?
It's pretty clear she hates cops.
That's not true, and I wouldn't
be considering this if it was.
Ellery, in a few years
you could be running
every prosecution in the province.
You have the ear of
the justice minister.
You think he takes
calls from Marcie Diggs?
This isn't what we worked for.
Must be nice to have such
strong opinions on the military
when you've never been in the field.
Ah, Louise doesn't sensor
herself about politics.
She doesn't mean anything by it.
Wrong foot, that's all.
IAN: You know what, Dad?
You love her and that's
good enough for me.
Well thanks, buddy.
REGGIE: Wait, what-what
does that mean exactly?
Well just because you love
Louise, it doesn't mean I have to.
We don't need to get along.
I'll play nice on Christmas
and Thanksgiving, it's fine.
Look at you and Mom.
REGGIE: You know, we need a re-do.
When everybody's rested.
Dad, it's not about getting
a good night's sleep.
Just let it be what it is.
Just try again for me.
Sure.
Okay.
Let's do it all over again.
(DOOR KNOCKING)
Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting?
Marcie, come in, meet my son Ian.
- Oh, I've heard a lot about you.
- Me too.
- My dad's new boss.
- Ah, excuse me.
I'm a freelancer.
I'm an eminence grise
for hire if you will.
- He's basically invaluable.
- I don't doubt that.
- See you, Dad.
- I'll be in touch about that re-do.
So, what do your clients
want out of a class action?
Money? Apology?
I don't think they'll turn down either.
But the most important thing is to
end the practice of birth alerts.
Well, perhaps civil court
is not the best place
to accomplish those goals.
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
You really are invaluable.
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
AVERY V.O.: Now as far as I'm concerned
it's despicable when people like
Ms. Nyiri violate our trust.
Anyone who'd harm a child
doesn't deserve my sympathy,
or anyone else's for that matter.
INTERVIEWER: And that
was Avery Mueller there
commenting on the case
that's not making its weight.
(CROWD CHATTERING QUIETLY)
JEN: My daughter's kid saw that video.
She is furious with me!
I promise you, I never meant
for that video to go public.
But, Marcie, why should it have
made a difference to the judge?
- 'Cause the defence argued that
- GLORIA: So you violate our privacy
and we don't even get our day in court?
IVY: That isn't true, is it Marcie?
It can't be over already.
It's not.
Ladies,
this case is moving
forward, make no mistake.
(SCOFFS) You said it was thrown out.
Of civil court, yes.
But a civil suit is
not our only recourse.
We're taking this to the
Human Rights Commission.
- (SCOFFS)
- (WOMAN CHUCKLING)
(AMBIENT MUSIC SWELLS)
- Why is this better than a civil suit?
- It's not,
necessarily, but filing with the HRC
is more likely to get
us media attention,
which ultimately is more likely to
provoke change in the government.
Meaning ending birth alerts?
MARCIE: That's the hope.
Look, other provinces have
already banned the policy.
GLORIA: But no guarantee.
MARCIE: Well there's
never any guarantees.
Look, the only thing we can do
is give this our best shot.
Okay, what about money?
Can we at least get a settlement?
TERRI: It's not about the money.
I know that Terri, but it'd be nice.
MARCIE: A settlement is possible.
It wouldn't be as much as a civil suit,
- but it would be something.
- (WOMEN GRUMBLING)
- Something.
- The most important thing
is that this doesn't happen
to anybody else, right?
No more babies being stolen.
GLORIA: Yeah.
Marcie, do you really think this
gives us a better shot at that?
Yes.
I really do.
Then that's what we should do.
We have to stop this.
Yeah, you're right.
- GLORIA: Absolutely.
- Yeah.
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
VIVIAN: Good, here you are!
You said this place was close, right?
- 'Cause I may need to run.
- Right this way.
What do you what do you mean?
I have a ton of space.
We could be neighbours.
You wanna move my new firm
to your offices? I
(SCOFFS) No.
No. (CHUCKLES)
You know, I'm trying real hard
- not to take offence right now.
- (PHONE RINGING)
It's really nice of you but, uh
this is is HRC, I gotta take this.
Marcie Diggs.
A study?
(TENSE MUSIC)
Great, thanks.
Listen Viv,
don't think I'm not grateful for
everything that you're doing,
I just, this is more your space,
not mine.
I really have to talk to my clients.
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
Look, I just need a moment.
I'm just here to apologize.
Well this should be good.
So speak.
I, um,
I might have been too aggressive
when I was prosecuting your case.
And this just occurred to you now?
AVERY: Sometimes my colleagues,
myself included,
confuse putting people behind bars
with the protection of the public.
- Carmen, I didn't stop to think that
- CARMEN: That I could actually be innocent?
Carmen, it wasn't personal.
Not for you.
I'm the one who's not
allowed to teach anymore.
Who's constantly whispered about
every time I go
shopping, or to the bank.
My husband moved out with
my kids for over a year
because it took that long
for him to trust me again.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Carmen, I'm sorry. I-I-I
don't know what to say.
What are you looking for?
Absolution?
You ruined my life and now you want me
to tell you it's okay?
(TENSE MUSIC)
Well, it's not okay.
Just go!
ELLERY: You were encouraged
to submit a safety plan
and you didn't, correct?
I was told to and I gave them one.
ELLERY: So how come
out of all the people
you might have chosen
to take care of your baby
did you propose Ronnie Maloney?
She's my auntie.
She's been good to me my whole life.
ELLERY: You knew she
had a criminal record.
That was a long time ago
but she's not a criminal.
She smashed a bottle
in her neighbour's face.
She assaulted a police officer.
That doesn't make her a
criminal in your eyes?
Auntie's always done her best by me.
Yeah, I believe you think that Ivy.
I really do.
But, isn't it true that
you ended up in foster care
because your aunt decided
to remain in a relationship
with a violent, abusive man
over parenting you?
Ivy, she had the opportunity
to put you first,
but she didn't,
and now here you are, once again,
and you're paying the cost
of your aunt's bad choices.
- (CRYING) That's not true.
- Only this time Ivy,
- it's not just you, this time it's your son.
- DOUG: Your Honour!
- Leave her alone, you bitch!
- COLLEEN: That's enough.
Mr. Paul, keep your client in check.
There's nothing wrong
with Ms. Lopez' questions.
(IVY SNIFFLING)
COLLEEN: As the crown is
finished with the witness
- Actually, Your Honour, I have
- As the crown is finished
with the witness, we will
take a fifteen minute recess.
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
No one up there wants the truth!
That lawyer up there is
talking like she knows my life.
She doesn't know me.
You gotta keep your cool.
Everyone up there sounding
like Indian agents.
What?
You know child services is
doing the exact same thing
as residential schools.
Ripping children from their families.
Same thing, different name.
A lot of people are
trying to change this,
advocates working to fund
community-based child services.
Oh, community based?
What about those of us who
don't know who our community is?
You're right, Ronnie.
I-I can't even begin to
imagine what that's like.
RONNIE: If we don't get that baby back,
he'll be the fifth generation
to be raised in the system.
It'll wreck Ivy. It'll ruin
them both, I've seen it.
We're working really hard
so that doesn't happen.
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
I want to go on the stand.
I don't think that's a good idea.
Everyone up there talking
about the system's,
a part of the system.
Ivy's the only one who's testified
with any actual experience of it,
and they steamrolled her!
I'm advising you, after your
last outburst in the court,
this isn't the best way
for the truth to come out.
But it'll be my truth.
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
They're not certified for infant care.
Well you can fast track that.
Oh, come on.
This is a great family for Ivy's baby.
They're only a few blocks
away from Ivy's foster home.
She can actually visit her son.
Iris, do you have any idea
how slammed this office is?
The baby is already
in an appropriate home.
- But you said if I found a family
- We don't have the resources
to play musical foster homes here.
(TENSE MUSIC)
You were brushing me off.
You never had any intention
of moving the baby.
(PHONE RINGING)
CLEO: I have to take this. Sorry.
(PHONE RINGING)
CLEO: Cleo Thom speaking.
So, the HRC has reviewed our submission.
And they have come back with an offer.
They've offered to conduct
a study on birth alerts.
And they've asked if you all
would be willing to participate.
A study?
We don't know what the
results of the study could be,
it-it could lead to lasting change.
It's just the same run around.
IVY: We don't want them to study it.
I want them to stop it.
- You said this was our best shot.
Just, there's more that we can do
- if we just
- Marcie, we're tired.
- Ivy, it's not over.
- It is for me.
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
LOUISE: Reggie, you said it yourself,
dinner was bad. Ian
and I just didn't click.
Well, you didn't let yourselves click.
I mean, you kinda went after him.
(SIGHS) How many times
do I have to apologize?
I meant no offence to Ian.
I just get fired up when it's
something I feel strongly about.
Oh, I know. Why do you think
I threw away my cargo shorts?
(LOUISE LAUGHS)
So listen, I've proposed a do-over.
Ian's totally into it.
I find that hard to believe.
REGGIE: Just give him a shot.
I mean, you gave me a
shot and look at us now.
Okay.
Bring on round two.
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
♪
Someone doesn't look
up for office shopping?
It's just one of those days.
I don't know, I just keep
hitting these roadblocks.
Class action got tossed out,
and then HRC turned us down.
And now Ivy's baby couldn't
be further from her.
I don't know, I
every time I make a move
I just keep getting zapped.
Sounds like you need a new move.
- I think I'm out of moves.
- Listen, you knew this was a big case.
All of these women,
all of their stories,
just take the roadblocks one at a time.
One at a time.
Uh-huh.
Viv, I'm sorry I gotta go.
Not just yet.
I have one more place
I want to show you.
What about this place?
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
That's Halifax Legal Aid.
Not anymore. I just bought the building.
So, it can be whatever I want it to be.
Including Marcie Diggs & Associates.
MARCIE: Wow.
Love it.
- You know Viv, I really do have to go.
- You go.
Just know that's your spot.
I'm just gonna viva it up.
MARCIE: Ivy.
- I have a new strategy for the case.
- Not interested.
Ivy, just hear me out, okay?
I think I found something
that could really work.
Don't you get it?
I don't care about the
case, this is about my son.
And he's gone and I don't
know if I'll ever get him back.
And nothing that you've
done has made a difference!
So just leave me alone.
(TENSE MUSIC SWELLS)
ONA: Danish? Wow.
How did I get so lucky?
You know I would never
bother you at home
if it wasn't really important.
Uh-huh.
Get folding then and
tell me what it's about.
Ivy Maloney.
ONA: Mmm-hmm.
IRIS: She had her baby.
I heard.
Doesn't explain why you're
plying me with pastry.
IRIS: Well and did you hear that
they sent him to a foster home
three hours away?
Good foster parents are like
hen's teeth, you know that.
Yeah, but I found really good ones.
Right here in Halifax.
I just need to get them
certified for infant-care.
So why are you on my doorstep
instead of going through
the proper channels?
You got turned down?
You're here to pull strings?
IRIS: The system put that
girl through the wringer
and now she can't even
see her own child.
Come on, Ona.
You know this isn't right.
You know she almost lost her mind?
"Marcie Diggs is a radical".
All I said was that
I was considering it.
- Your mom's just looking out for you.
- ELLERY: No.
She's micromanaging me
and it's way past time
I put a stop to it.
You really think going
to work for Marcie
is the best way to do that?
This isn't me rebelling
against my mother,
I'm not fourteen.
I just want change.
You can go anywhere.
Why Marcie?
You don't want me to do this either?
You know how this is the
kitchen and I eat in here?
Well, down the hall's
the bathroom and
In this metaphor am I
the sink or the toilet?
- You know what I'm saying.
- I do, and I don't like it.
You know, this decision it's
not actually about you, Viv.
Crazy concept, I know.
I'm late, I've gotta go.
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
DOUG: Colleen is kicking my ass.
Every objection "overruled".
- And this Ellery person?
- Oh, she's good, isn't she?
Not the word I was thinking of.
Be nice.
IRIS: (KNOCKING) Knock, knock.
We have some good news.
You said your team would get
my baby closer and you did.
I'm sorry I talked to
you like that Marcie.
I shouldn't have doubted you.
I'm so happy.
(AMBIENT MUSIC)
Is this all for our case?
MARCIE: It is, yes.
So, you gonna tell me all about
your exciting new plan or what?
Absolutely. You good here?
Yeah, I'm just working on
my questions for Ronnie.
All right.
You wanted to see me?
MARTIN: Close the door.
Take a seat.
You want to explain to me
why I just got a call
from Carmen Nyiri's lawyer?
I'm not following.
MARTIN: Thanks to your
visit to Ms. Nyiri,
and your little apology,
you and our office are now being sued
for malicious prosecution.
(SIGHS) Frankly, she
deserved an apology.
MARTIN: You're a prosecutor.
It's not your damn business to decide
what people deserve.
You leave that up to the
judges and the juries.
I went after that woman.
And I tore her life apart.
- For what?
- This is what we're gonna do.
I'm gonna call a press conference.
You're gonna set the record straight.
You're gonna deny making any
comments about the Nyiri case,
deny making an apology,
and maybe just maybe
this thing will go away.
I'm not doing that sir, no.
MARTIN: Well, isn't that funny?
I don't remember asking you a question.
I'm not going to lie.
MARTIN: I expect you to
start working on a statement
with our communications team today.
Now.
(TENSE MUSIC)
♪
Yeah.
(TENSE MUSIC)
That's not gonna happen, Martin.
(TENSE DRAMATIC MUSIC)
This is the last of them.
Thanks for all your help on
this. You really saved the day.
Somebody needed to be
looking out for Ivy.
Listen, if you ever need anything,
don't hesitate to call.
Actually, there is something.
Is that job offer still good?
DOUG: You weren't trying to kidnap
your grand-nephew, were you, Ronnie?
I was trying to protect him.
Keep him from going through
what all of us went through.
DOUG: And what do you mean by that?
RONNIE: I didn't want him to be stolen
like the rest of us.
I wanted him to have people.
You know, me and my big sister Kara,
we grew up in a little
house out in Spryfield.
That was till we were seven, eight,
and then Mom died in a car wreck
and me and Kara, we didn't have people.
Didn't have nowhere to go.
But your mother was from Millbrook.
- Was that an option?
- We didn't know anything about Millbrook.
I mean, Mom got scooped
when she was little
just like a bunch of others.
She never talked about
home for the longest time.
It was too painful.
DOUG: What happened to
you and your sister?
RONNIE: We ended up in foster care.
- And what was that like?
- How do you think it was?
I was in six different foster
homes by the time I was fifteen.
Some of them were nice enough
and some of them were not so nice.
Do I gotta get into all that?
DOUG: Were you and your sister placed
with Indigenous foster parents?
Is that a joke? No.
My sister was sent to a
different home than me.
She ended up way out in another town.
By the time I was old
enough to find her,
she was dead.
No one even told me.
DOUG: I'm so sorry to hear that.
So your grandmother went
to residential school,
your mother grows up in care,
you and your sister grow up in care.
What kind of relationship do
you have with your community?
My mom tried to look for relatives,
she found a few cousins once.
But other than that,
we didn't know much.
She died before she could go back.
Have you been able to
reconnect with your community?
RONNIE: I've been back.
But I'm still a stranger.
No one remembers me or my mom.
It's a weird feeling 'cause
I know that's my home
but it's like everything is
covered in plastic, you know?
And that's why you didn't
want your grand-nephew
growing up in care?
To keep him from
experiencing that same feeling
of dislocation you've described?
RONNIE: I don't trust the
system to keep us safe.
We didn't get a chance
to know who we are,
to know where we came from, you get me?
Ivy didn't want that for her little boy.
I didn't either.
He needs to have people.
Thank you, Ronnie.
Your Honour, I have no further
questions for my witness.
Your witness, Ms. Lopez.
Can you explain to the court
why your niece, Ivy, ended up in care?
I had a drug addiction
that I let get the better of me.
But that was a long time ago.
When you say "get the better of me",
you mean to say that you
left your niece in a diner
for two hours while you
were shooting up in an alley?
RONNIE: You don't know
what you're talking about.
Objection, Your Honour.
COLLEEN: Ms. Lopez, I'm gonna
encourage you to rethink
your line of questioning.
The court is very familiar
with the challenges
Indigenous people face as a result of
intergenerational trauma
and the racism ingrained in our society
and is sympathetic.
You mentioned you
wanted your grand-nephew
to grow up knowing where he comes from.
Is that where you were taking
him on the night in question?
- No, I wasn't going to Mill
- ELLERY: Isn't it true that Millbrook
was 100 kilometres in
the other direction?
I was just trying to protect him.
I didn't have a plan
ELLERY: I need to understand this.
You stole a newborn from the hospital
with no car seat,
no formula, no plan.
Isn't this kind of poor decision-making
the reason why you lost
custody of your niece?
Isn't this kind of poor judgement
that you've displayed
over and over again,
the sole reason you were deemed unfit
to be accepted as the guardian
for your grand-nephew?
Lady, you're right,
I didn't have a plan.
The only thing that was
going through my mind
when I saw that awesome
little boy in my niece's arms
was "not him".
They don't get to have him.
Not him.
(TENSE DRAMATIC MUSIC)
No, I don't care if the
minister needs it this afternoon.
(KNOCKING)
No. Listen, I gotta go.
Oh, I'm sure you remember
my clients and their class action suit?
I remember the judge threw it out.
Yeah, see,
they actually decided that
they wanted to file suit
against the government individually.
- Individually?
- Mm-hmm.
All these women.
And next week it'll
be double that. And,
that's just the start. I mean,
I figure once the
media gets wind of this,
there'll be quite a few
more women wanting to sue.
If the ladies wouldn't mind
stepping out into the hallway,
perhaps you and I can
come to some agreement.
Hm.
(TENSE DRAMATIC MUSIC)
MARCIE: The ladies stay.
(TENSE DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Ms. Maloney, I believe
you acted impulsively,
and, yes, unwisely
when you left town
with your great-nephew.
But I'm troubled to
learn of the government's
callous disregard for your
niece's rights as a mother.
And even more troubled at why widespread
this disregard appears to be.
Particularly, it must be said,
when it comes to Indigenous women.
The defendant acted at
the request of the mother,
and had good cause to
fear the harm her nephew
would suffer in the foster care system.
Therefore, I find Ronnie
Maloney not guilty
on the charge of kidnapping.
SHERIFF: Court is adjourned.
(SOLEMN AMBIENT MUSIC)
Hey Ronnie, we won!
You should be smiling.
What's there to smile about?
I should never have been
arrested in the first place.
And Nicholas is still in care.
(SOLEMN AMBIENT MUSIC)
(MUFFLED CHATTERING)
I'm sorry I'm late.
I didn't mean to leave you two alone.
It's okay, we haven't ordered yet.
I mean, you can't be serious.
These missions are totally outdated.
Try telling that to the
people we're helping.
- Hey guys, let's just take a breath.
- No, Dad, it's fine.
There are villages across the globe
that wouldn't have clean drinking
water without peacekeepers.
Do you know how many
communities here in Canada
- don't have clean water?
- Okay, well it's not an either/or situation.
- Everyone should have clean drinking water.
- We should order.
- The salmon looks good.
- Oh, it's farmed.
So?
So are chickens.
LOUISE: (CHUCKLES)
So now you want to discuss
factory farming next?
IAN: Bring it on.
(PLAYFUL AMBIENT MUSIC)
RONNIE: Hmm, we got, uh, stinky cheese
and, um, some fancy milk chocolates.
What? No caviar?
DOUG: Just enjoy your fancy
milk chocolates, Ronnie.
I'm lactose intolerant.
Ivy, my girl,
you'll go through these in a day.
Won't you, miss sweet tooth?
I feel like I owe you guys so much.
MARCIE: I just think it's amazing
how threatening to choke the
system with a slew of lawsuits
actually got the system to work.
That money is gonna be put
away for this one's education.
DOUG: I'm just glad that social
services listened to reason
and had a change of heart
once Ronnie was acquitted.
Ting, tang, they better had.
Otherwise you guys and me,
we'd be going all the
way to the supreme court.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Thank you.
For bringing us home.
(GENTLE AMBIENT MUSIC)
♪
MARCIE: Oh.
Thank you.
- Hey, have I got great timing or what?
- MARCIE: Perfect.
I can finally toast this amazing team.
You guys did good.
- Thank you.
- (GLASSES CLINK)
- ELLERY: Did I miss the toast?
- Oh, no. No worries,
we'll do another one
after introductions.
Everyone, meet Ellery Lopez,
the newest member of our team.
Ellery, meet Reggie Thompson,
Iris Beals.
And Doug Paul.
ELLERY: Hi, Doug.
I'm looking forward to working together.
- (GLASSES CLINK)
- Everybody, cheers.
(UPLIFTING MUSIC)