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Inquest hears state of policing in aboriginal communities is 'deplorable'
By Michael Oliveira, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - The senseless deaths of two young aboriginal men who were trapped in cells during a jailhouse fire must be acknowledged by addressing the deplorable state of policing in First Nation communities, family and community leaders said Monday as a coroner's inquest began hearing evidence.
Ricardo Wesley, 22, and Jamie Goodwin, 20, died on Jan. 8, 2006, when fire engulfed the ramshackle police holding facility in Kashechewan First Nation, a fly-in community in northern Ontario.
Coroner counsel Margaret Creal said witnesses are expected to testify that the men were arrested separately for being intoxicated.
It's expected that court will hear officers heard a prisoner yell, "emergency, emergency," and saw a large object, believed to be a foam mattress, ablaze on the floor of Wesley's cell.
Police frantically tried to free the men as smoke filled the building, but fumbled with unlabelled keys and were unsuccessful.
After more than three years of waiting for answers, the families of the victims and the community of about 1,700 are anxious to finally have the inquest go forward, said lawyer Julian Falconer, who's representing Wesley's family.
"These are clearly deaths that never had to happen. The state and conditions of detachments in First Nations territories are deplorable," said Falconer, who noted the jail lacked a fire extinguisher, smoke alarms and sprinklers.
"Red flags to governments, both federally and provincially, are on record dating years back, yet these deplorable circumstances were allowed to continue."
Wesley's 65-year-old father George said through a Cree interpreter that he hopes the inquest will answer questions for the community and finally lead to much-needed improvements on the reserve.
"Everything should be comparable, everything should be equal," he said. "Whatever services that government provides, whatever services we take as native people, it should be equal or comparable to what you see in mainstream society.
"I want both levels of government to take that message and fix the problem. Let's treat everybody the same."
The inquest jury of three women and two men visited Kashechewan two weeks ago to observe the fire scene and other sites in the community.
Kashechewan Chief Jonathan Solomon said it was important for the jurors to see just how different life is in the isolated community, though the brief visit likely didn't give them a true taste of the harsher aspects.
The community has also been plagued by problems with water quality, which prompted an evacuation in 2005, and the population has been evacuated another four times since 2005 because of spring flooding.
The community is linked to the outside world only by an ice road in the winter and is only accessible by plane the rest of the year.
Unemployment is high until seasonal jobs emerge in the summer, and the cost of living is astronomical. At its peak, gas was going for $2.85 a litre, while a litre of milk cost almost $5.
"It's good that they see the physical layout of the community, the physical conditions of housing and stuff like that," Solomon said. "That's good but to actually live it is a different story.
"Going into the community for a few hours, they're not going to be able to experience the life ... to feel the experience of the life in the north."
The jury is tasked with making recommendations, if appropriate, that could prevent similar deaths, and Falconer said he hopes that enhancing policing for aboriginal communities will be concretely addressed.
"Federal and provincial governments have promised, have contractually agreed, that First Nations would receive the same level of police services as non-First Nations communities in similar circumstances," he said.
"That is so far from reality that as a first step we need to fix that. We need to fix the gap that's left so many communities destitute."
Solomon said Kashechewan's replacement jail is an improvement over the facility that burned down, but is still not up to standard.
Instead of being built from the ground up, the modular facility arrived in the community in three pieces and was put together.
"It came in on wheels," Solomon said. "It's not the kind of building that would last long."
Dr. David Eden is presiding as coroner at the inquest, which could last up to five or six weeks.
By law, an inquest is required when a person dies while in custody.
Solomon said he was disappointed that the start of the inquest was hampered by a technical glitch that kept the proceedings from being beamed live to Kashechewan for locals to watch remotely.
"They were looking forward to this to close one chapter of the past," Solomon said. "Finally, hopefully, there'll be closure for them."
By Michael Oliveira, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - The senseless deaths of two young aboriginal men who were trapped in cells during a jailhouse fire must be acknowledged by addressing the deplorable state of policing in First Nation communities, family and community leaders said Monday as a coroner's inquest began hearing evidence.
Ricardo Wesley, 22, and Jamie Goodwin, 20, died on Jan. 8, 2006, when fire engulfed the ramshackle police holding facility in Kashechewan First Nation, a fly-in community in northern Ontario.
Coroner counsel Margaret Creal said witnesses are expected to testify that the men were arrested separately for being intoxicated.
It's expected that court will hear officers heard a prisoner yell, "emergency, emergency," and saw a large object, believed to be a foam mattress, ablaze on the floor of Wesley's cell.
Police frantically tried to free the men as smoke filled the building, but fumbled with unlabelled keys and were unsuccessful.
After more than three years of waiting for answers, the families of the victims and the community of about 1,700 are anxious to finally have the inquest go forward, said lawyer Julian Falconer, who's representing Wesley's family.
"These are clearly deaths that never had to happen. The state and conditions of detachments in First Nations territories are deplorable," said Falconer, who noted the jail lacked a fire extinguisher, smoke alarms and sprinklers.
"Red flags to governments, both federally and provincially, are on record dating years back, yet these deplorable circumstances were allowed to continue."
Wesley's 65-year-old father George said through a Cree interpreter that he hopes the inquest will answer questions for the community and finally lead to much-needed improvements on the reserve.
"Everything should be comparable, everything should be equal," he said. "Whatever services that government provides, whatever services we take as native people, it should be equal or comparable to what you see in mainstream society.
"I want both levels of government to take that message and fix the problem. Let's treat everybody the same."
The inquest jury of three women and two men visited Kashechewan two weeks ago to observe the fire scene and other sites in the community.
Kashechewan Chief Jonathan Solomon said it was important for the jurors to see just how different life is in the isolated community, though the brief visit likely didn't give them a true taste of the harsher aspects.
The community has also been plagued by problems with water quality, which prompted an evacuation in 2005, and the population has been evacuated another four times since 2005 because of spring flooding.
The community is linked to the outside world only by an ice road in the winter and is only accessible by plane the rest of the year.
Unemployment is high until seasonal jobs emerge in the summer, and the cost of living is astronomical. At its peak, gas was going for $2.85 a litre, while a litre of milk cost almost $5.
"It's good that they see the physical layout of the community, the physical conditions of housing and stuff like that," Solomon said. "That's good but to actually live it is a different story.
"Going into the community for a few hours, they're not going to be able to experience the life ... to feel the experience of the life in the north."
The jury is tasked with making recommendations, if appropriate, that could prevent similar deaths, and Falconer said he hopes that enhancing policing for aboriginal communities will be concretely addressed.
"Federal and provincial governments have promised, have contractually agreed, that First Nations would receive the same level of police services as non-First Nations communities in similar circumstances," he said.
"That is so far from reality that as a first step we need to fix that. We need to fix the gap that's left so many communities destitute."
Solomon said Kashechewan's replacement jail is an improvement over the facility that burned down, but is still not up to standard.
Instead of being built from the ground up, the modular facility arrived in the community in three pieces and was put together.
"It came in on wheels," Solomon said. "It's not the kind of building that would last long."
Dr. David Eden is presiding as coroner at the inquest, which could last up to five or six weeks.
By law, an inquest is required when a person dies while in custody.
Solomon said he was disappointed that the start of the inquest was hampered by a technical glitch that kept the proceedings from being beamed live to Kashechewan for locals to watch remotely.
"They were looking forward to this to close one chapter of the past," Solomon said. "Finally, hopefully, there'll be closure for them."