THUNDER BAY -- Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said he’s holding out hope a inquest into the death of seven Aboriginal teens studying in Thunder Bay can produce meaningful results.
Ontario’s chief coroner Dirk Huyer announced the inquest will start on Oct. 5 in Thunder Bay. It will examine circumstances surrounding the students' deaths, all of whom left remote communities to attend school in the Northern Ontario hub.
Fiddler on Wednesday said it’s about time the oft-delayed inquest moved forward, adding he’s crossing his fingers it will result in protection for First Nation students and provide them a proper education – preferably closer to home.
“The families and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities have waited far too long for this procedure to commence,” Fiddler in a release issued hours after Huyer made his announcement.
“In 2000, we lost Jethro Anderson, who was only 15 years old. Since then, six more young people have been lost. Why are our communities forced to send their children hundreds of kilometres away to get a high-school education?
Also included in the inquest are the deaths of Curran Strang in 2005; Paul Panacheese in 2006; Robyn Harper and Reggie Bushie in 2007, Kyle Morrisseau in 2009 and Jordan Wabasse in 2011.
Fiddler said it’s tough parents are reluctant to send their children away to school, and for good reason.
“When they do, there is a lot of anxiety about the fate of their children. We are hopeful that this inquest will produce meaningful solutions that keep our children safe and allow them access to education without fear of tragic endings.”
The jury will be given the power to make recommendations to try to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Between October and next March the inquest is expected to hear from about 200 witnesses.
Lawyer Christa Big Canoe from Toronto’s Aboriginal Legal Service, representing six of the families, said it’s time to put the issues on the table.
“The magnitude of the issues that First Nation youth experience is starting to be recognized more generally, but it is the families’ hope that the inquest will provide concrete and meaningful recommendations to prevent future deaths of students that want seek education and better opportunity,” Big Canoe said in a release issued Wednesday, hours after Huyer made the date public.
An inquest into Bushie and four other students’ deaths was originally scheduled for June 2009, but legal delays have kept delaying the process.
Enough is enough said legal counsel Jonathan Rudin in the same release.
“The families have been waiting so long and with so many questions about the loss of their children that it is a relief that the inquest will finally begin,” he said.
The inquest will be streamed live.
