Inquest ordered in Ironchild case

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Chris Axworthy, Saskatchewan's Justice minister has ordered a public inquest into the events that led to the death of Darcy Dean Ironchild earlier this year.

The decision was announced after the provincial public prosecutions office decided there was no basis for the laying of criminal charges in relation to the matter. Ironchild, 33, was found dead of a drug overdose in his apartment Feb. 19, hours after being released from police custody.

Ministry spokesperson Debi McEwen wouldn't comment when asked specific questions about the investigation leading to the decision not to lay charges. Asked if the decision means evidence had been obtained that proved that Ironchild took the fatal overdose after he was released from police custody, McEwen said, "I can't speak to that."

She did say that the province's chief coroner will soon announce who will lead the inquest and what guidelines that person will be required to follow.

Native lawyers who have experience with the politics of public inquiries warn that when an inquiry is called it creates the impression that the government is anxious to ensure the truth will come out, an impression that is frequently false, they say. A coroner's inquest, especially, has narrow guidelines and limited powers and can, simply by being forced to stay within certain limits, be steered away from potentially embarrassing political issues.

Donald Worme, a Regina lawyer who has assisted the Ironchild family, doesn't believe the decision to call the inquest is a sign the government is anxious to take a close look at the social issues that may have contributed to the death of a Native man who had been in police custody so soon before his death.

"I think that it is an extremely sad situation," Worme said of the decision to call an inquest. "I don't consider this to be a viable option, whatsoever. I don't see it as being able to get to the truth of the matter, the underlying issues. Frankly, I don't think, at the end of the day, that it's going to be helpful at all."

He pointed out that past inquiries have accomplished little, if anything.

"I mean, we've had many, many deaths in custody. We've had coroner's inquiries around that. If they were so good, why are they still happening?" he said. "They simply do not assist in being able to concentrate societal attention on what the real problems are here."

Worme believes, as do most Native leaders in the province, that anti-Native racism is so firmly established in Saskatchewan that police officers felt safe in taking Native people outside the city to remote areas and dropping them off in extremely cold conditions. The RCMP is investigating the deaths of several Native men whose bodies were found outside of Saskatoon. Two police officers have been charged with forcible confinement and assault after they admitted to dropping off Darrell Night on a night when the temperature plunged to minus 26 degree Celsius. Night survived and filed a complaint. The two police officers, Daniel Hatchen and Kenneth Munson, are being tried separately. Munson appeared in court in early September. A publication ban on the details of that hearing was imposed by Judge Patrick Carey. Hatchen's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2.

Worme is acting on behalf of Night and the others. He said neither he nor the Ironchild family was told why the decision to not lay charges was made.

"I have absolutely no idea," he said. "They released no information. This decision was made completely internal. So far as I understand there was no information shared with any outside bodies, including the family of the deceased. That's not unusual because decisions to lay charges are matters up to the discretion of the director of public prosecutions. There's nothing wrong with that, but I would have thought, given the sensitivity of this matter, that there might have been an attempt to get a little broader, if not input, then certainly communication in making this decision."

Lawrence Jseph, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations' interim grand chief (with an election coming on Oct. 18, Grand Chief Perry Bellegarde's term has ended although he is seeking re-election) told Windspeaker that there was some informal contact between the provincial justice ministry and the FSIN.

He said his organization wants a much broader inquiry than the one ordered by Axworthy.

"We want an inquiry into this whole bloody so-called justice system," he said. "Until we get the questions answered and the truth revealed in some of these atrocities, I think we're going to be like this until hell freezes over. We have absolutely no doubt in our minds that the province and, indeed, the federal government, cannot simply walk away from this with just an inquiry here and a inquest there."

The FSIN wants to take a holistic approach to looking into all social ills suffered by Native people, he said, adding that top FSIN Justice people met with their provincial counterparts and there was talk of a partnership in dealing with the police issues.

"There was some goodwill there and that's a good start. They have not really invited us in written form to actually take part. If we do and when we do, it would be a very cautious partnership. Based on our initial reaction to it, if it's significant and there's to be a recognition of our agenda, then we will go at it. But if it's going to be just another token Indian partnership, there's no way."

Joseph agrees with Worme about the inquiry that has been called.

"It looks good but it's just another cover-up," he said. "If it's going to appease the minds of the family of Darcy Ironchild, certainly that's a start. But we're not going to accept the piecemeal approach that Minister Axworthy has spelled out. Although I think it's an honorable effort, I think it's a veiled attempt to quiet the situation down. It's not going to do it."

The FSIN has hired its own investigators to look into what have become known as the "starlight cruises"

"They're building a case against society in general and that includes the provincial and federal authorities, the municipal authorities, the police authorities, both federal and regional and municipal. We are building a case nobody - no politician, no human being - can say, 'Well, it's just another wolf cry from First Nation people.' It's not a racial issue. It's a human rights issue."