BRACEBRIDGE, ON — The family of a girl who died by suicide in Sioux Lookout in 2016 has filed a lawsuit against Tikanagan Child & Family Services, alleging negligence.
A statement of claim filed in Superior Court in Bracebridge, where the family's lawyer is based, seeks $5.9 million in damages on behalf of Kanina Sue Turtle's parents and five siblings.
Kanina was 15 when she took her own life in a Sioux Lookout group foster home operated by Tikanagan, an agency that serves First Nations in northwestern Ontario.
The girl was Anishinaabe and a member of Poplar Hill First Nation.
The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court, and Tikanagan has not yet issued a response to them.
The suit alleges that Kanina was chronically suicidal at the time of and leading up to her death, and had received "some limited counselling...which did not adequately address her needs."
It says she posted messages on social media prior to her death indicating she was at risk of suicide, and that in the group home she had access to lighters, rope and/or rope-like materials, and sharp instruments.
According to the statement of claim, her death was the result of negligence, in that the child was not adequately monitored, and that staff "were incompetent in supervising Indigenous children suffering with mental health issues."
The lawsuit comes in the wake of a recent report by an expert panel convened by Ontario chief coroner Dirk Huyer to examine the deaths of 12 youths while in the care of the province's child welfare system.
Eight of the victims were from northern First Nations.
The report found that services provided to the Indigenous youth "were largely unresponsive" to their needs, and that there was a lack of culturally appropriate care focusing on prevention and family support.
According to the panel, Kanina lived with her biological parents and siblings until the age of two, when she came into care under a customary care agreement.
She was admitted to care ten times over the course of her life, the panel said, but "The goal of family reunification remained throughout her time in care."
The report noted that in the last year of her life, "Kanina had a number of placement changes, which often followed incidents of self-harm, suicidal intention and attempts."
In the four months prior to her death she was placed in an Indigenous youth healing centre, but was medically evacuated out twice in response to self-harming behaviour and suicide attempts.
The most recent visit to hospital occurred five days prior to her death.
Tikanagan Child & Family Services, in a brief statement issued Monday, said "We continue to express our deepest sympathies to Kanina's family. It's heartbreaking to lose a daughter and we are all saddened by her passing. At this time Tikanagan is waiting for legal counsel to look at the statement of claim before we respond."
The Ontario Association for Suicide Prevention provides a list of resources for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis or who may be considering suicide: http://www.ospn.ca/index.php/crisis-support.
Alternatively, individuals should call 911 or Telehealth at 1-866-797-0000.
