Community debates location of memorial for La Loche shooting victims

La Loche will have a memorial to honour the victims of last year's shooting in the northern Saskatchewan village, but Mayor Robert St. Pierre says there is debate over where it should be built.

Plans to construct the memorial were announced last week, on the first anniversary of the Jan. 22, 2016 shooting that killed four people.

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The memorial structures would include a ribbon-like design with drawings of animals and the names of those killed.

2 possible sites

But St. Pierre said there was debate over the most respectful and sensitive place to put it.

The two locations being considered are the school, where two people were killed on Jan. 22, 2016, and the recreation centre. 

"Some people wish it to be by the school because that's where the incident happened," said St. Pierre.

"And some people don't wish it to be by the school because we have the young adults going into school [and] it's going to be a constant reminder."

He added that the community's leadership had to be respectful to people on both sides of the debate.

Brothers Drayden, 13, and Dayne Fontaine, 17, were shot and killed in a house in the village in January last year.

Soon after, teacher's assistant Marie Janvier, 21, and teacher Adam Wood, 35, were killed at La Loche Community School, where several other people were injured.

• Teen charged in deadly La Loche, Sask., shooting pleads guilty

The planned memorial would include information about what happened on the day and who was affected, as well as a community poem.

Some positive reaction to memorial design 

St. Pierre said the community's leadership was working with Saskatoon landscaping company Crosby Hanna & Associates to finalize the project, with hopes to complete it within a year.

He said there had been some positive reaction to the design, which he said was difficult to describe.

But he said the memorial wasn't the main priority for the community when it was announced on Jan. 22.

"It was an emotional day, right, so their thoughts are with the victims and those families that lost a loved one, so their focus was there," he said.

"But it was just something so that they can visually see that we are working on a concept and we are working towards a memorial that they could see." 

A 17-year-old boy from the community pleaded guilty in October to two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree murder, as well as seven counts of attempted murder.