Bushie pre-inquest begins in Thunder Bay

A pre-inquest into the death of Reggie Bushie has begun.

The three-day inquest will study the jury roll representation of First Nations people living on reserves. It will look at the process of developing those rolls, whether or not it’s effective and how to fix the process if it is deemed to be ineffective.

The inquest heard from Thunder Bay District court operations supervisor Janette Sprovieri Thursday morning as the pre-inquest began at the provincial building on Red River Road.

The inquest will continue Friday and resume again next Thursday.
Reggie is one of seven First Nations youth to have died while attending school in Thunder Bay since 2000.

He was recovered from the McIntyre River, one week after he was seen alive on the riverbank in 2007.

The inquest, originally scheduled for January 2009, was delayed after concerns were raised that there may be a lack of First Nations representation on the five-person jury.