'It needs to be done': Grieving woman welcomes inquest into Whitehorse shelter deaths

A loved one of a woman who died at the Whitehorse emergency shelter is welcoming the chief coroner's call for a public inquest. 

"It needs to be done, it needs to be looked at," said Karen Nicloux, who was very close to Josephine Hager, one of the four people whose deaths will be the focus of the inquest.

"How many more people have to die?"

Set for the spring, the inquest will examine the facts and circumstances surrounding four deaths at the shelter in the last two years, but the jury will not make any finding of legal responsibility. 

Besides Hager, whose death was reported in February, the deceased include Cassandra Warville, 35, and Myranda Tizya-Charlie, 34, who died in January 2022 of what the coroner found to be the result of toxic illicit drugs, and Darla Skookum, 52, whose death was reported on April 16.

According to Chief Coroner Heather Jones, three of the deaths happened at the shelter, while the fourth person was declared dead at Whitehorse General Hospital after being taken there from the shelter by ambulance. 

"I'm very relieved," said Nicloux of the upcoming inquest, "and very proud that, you know, we have a coroner like Heather [Jones] in the Yukon. " 

Jones told CBC News she has been in contact with the families of all those who have died, adding that she is aware of a total of seven deaths in the past couple of years associated with the shelter.

She said differences in some of the deaths led to her not including all seven in the upcoming inquest. But for all families, she said, "the pain is raw and emotions are far-reaching." 

'I'm tired of watching people die'

For Nicloux, it's high time to shine a light on what she sees as many problems associated with the shelter.

"We have some very vulnerable, traumatized people and they're not addressing the problem," she told CBC. 

"You know, the one thing that really upsets me the most — and I have empathy, but you know — Alpine Bakery shuts down and then the government is all in an uproar, right? Because the business closed down," she said, referring to a downtown business that recently closed, citing the neighbouring shelter as the reason.

"But how many people died at that shelter, and people that access that shelter to pick up their drugs and to drink openly? And the government didn't do anything, and all of a sudden the business shuts down and the world has come to an end."

The shelter is low-barrier, meaning it does not require people to be sober to access services. This is one of Nicloux's major concerns.

"I'd like to see the government — this is my dream — turn that shelter into an actual safe emergency shelter where people can go, free of harm and danger, free of drugs and alcohol."

The drug trade, addictions and trauma are all connected, she says. 

Connective, the organization that operates the shelter along with the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN), noted in a report this week that since it took over operations in the fall of 2022, 40 overdoses at the shelter have been averted with the use of naloxone. 

"I'm tired of watching people die, and it's not the local street people who are hustling drugs that are killing each other, it's the big dealers," said Nicloux. "Like, come on, they're the ones that should be charged with murder." 

She says her anger is mounting as more people overdose and dealers continue to mix cocaine with other substances like fentanyl, oxycodone and benzos. Nicloux says she has growing frustration over what she calls "catch and release" — drug dealers cycling through the justice system and then back out on the street. 

"It's always like, mostly on welfare weekends, when people get their social assistance checks, the drug dealers are out there full-bore, raking in the money, killing our people — and they prey on the vulnerable, the shelter users," she said. 

Security guards now on patrol

In the Yukon Legislature, opposition parties say they're glad the government is rolling out changes at the shelter, but there are concerns about the details. 

Premier Ranj Pillai said this week that private security guards have begun patrols in the area around the shelter. A new outreach patrol operated by CYFN is also in the works. In an attempt to decentralize services, the premier said the government is considering revamping the old legislature cafeteria — defunct since the pandemic — to serve meals to those in need and offer other services. 

NDP MLA Lane Tredger, who represents Whitehorse Centre, says one of the government's efforts to make improvements has already failed: the decision to remove privacy barriers in front of the shelter entrance. Tredger says people have simply moved elsewhere. 

"This has actually made these gatherings more disruptive to the people trying to sleep in their homes, and even less visible to the staff who could intervene or call for help if someone was being harmed," they said in the assembly. 

Meanwhile, Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers says the premier neglected to mention the deaths of shelter clients and the upcoming coroner's inquest when speaking about the changes planned for the shelter at 405 Alexander Street.

"We know the families of those people are looking for answers and that inquest may come to different conclusions than he has about how well the shelter is or isn't working," Cathers said.