Circumstances of youth deaths remain unexamined

The family of Reggie Bushie is no closer to finding the answers surrounding his death. Police recovered the body of the Poplar First Nation youth from the McIntyre River in Thunder Bay on Nov. 1, 2007. He had been attending Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School when he died.

Reggie’s death was the fifth such death in the northwestern Ontario city. Two more teens have died of similar circumstances. All seven youth were from remote First Nations and had to attend high school in the city.
An inquest into his death was postponed in 2009 after lawyers for Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Bushie’s family questioned the way people were being selected to sit on the jury for an inquest in the area. A hearing was held in July to ‘inquire into the representatives of the 2011 jury roll of the Judicial District of Thunder Bay.’

The issue was that there were no First Nation jurists sitting at the inquest for Reggie Bushie. To have a fair look into circumstances, First Nations jurists would have better cultural understanding and awareness when examining evidence and hearing from witnesses.

According to the ruling from Coroner David S. Eden, Coroner’s inquests are comprised of a jury of five people who are selected through procedures set out in the Juries Act and Coroner’s Act, ‘which incorporates by reference specific provisions of the Juries Act.’

In his ruling, Eden wrote, “Under the Juries Act, the sheriff in a county or district prepares a jury roll each year. The jury roll consists of a randomly selected group of Canadian citizens resident in the province, who have been sent and who have returned a jury service notice. The persons randomly selected to receive jury service notices are taken from municipal assessment lists.”

In short, there are problems with the selection process since it doesn’t include First Nation representatives.
(That’s also the point of an inquiry currently underway in the province. The Ministry of the Attorney General appointed former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci to inquire into and report on First Nation representation on Ontario jury rolls, with a final report due in the summer of 2012.)

After Eden’s ruling came out Sept. 9, Nishnawbe Aski Nation called for a Commission of Inquiry to look into all seven youth deaths in Thunder Bay.

“We didn’t specifically talk  with respect to the Bushie Inquiry,” said Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose, “but we called for a Commissioner of Inquiry to look into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of seven NAN youths who tragically passed away while attending school under the similar circumstances as Reggie Bushie.”

“The Coroner’s Inquest system is obviously not sufficient to get to the bottom of what the families are trying to find answers to, as to what happened to not only Bushie, but also to the other young people,” added Waboose.

The Bushie family lawyer, Jonathon Rudin of Aboriginal Legal Services, said prior to the hearing, information on First Nation jury participation had never been revealed before and what they learned in the hearing was “quite disturbing.” Out of the jury questionnaires sent out and received, 50 per cent of those are qualified to sit on juries, but only seven per cent of First Nations are qualified to sit.

Rudin also said, “the ruling concluded that the jury roll in Thunder Bay does not in fact comply with the requirements of the Juries Act, because First Nations people who live on reserve are simply not adequately represented, therefore it was impossible to put a jury together in Thunder Bay that’s representative of the community...the inquest can’t be held because a proper jury can’t be convened....That means the inquest into the [death] of Reggie Bushie can’t be held.”

“It’s our feeling, for a number of reasons, it makes sense not to pursue the inquest issue anymore but in fact urge the government of Ontario or whichever party forms the government of Ontario next month, to hold a Commissioner of Inquiry into the seven deaths that have occurred among the young men who have come from the reserve to attend school in Thunder Bay,” said Rudin.

The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs stated in an email, “We take this issue very seriously and believe the best approach is to get all the key parties together and try to solve the issues. We don’t have to wait for the Bushie inquest to start discussions with key players (city, federal government, province, NAN and others). Ontario would be pleased to participate in any such discussions.”

The Ministry also added in its statement, “These are terrible tragedies and our thoughts are with the victims’ families. No youth should suffer such a fate.”

Meanwhile, after NAN called for a Commissioner of Inquiry, the organization didn’t get the favorable response they wanted from the province, and NAN released another statement. In it, Deputy Grand Chief Waboose rejected an offer from the province to convene meetings instead of a provincial Commission of Inquiry.
So for now, the families of Jethro Anderson, Curran Strang, Paul Panacheese, Robin Harper, Reggie Bushie, Kyle Morriseau and Jordan Wabasse have no choice but to continue waiting for answers into why these youths from remote First Nations died so young while attending high school in the city over the past 11 years.