First Nations student deaths 'treated woefully inadequately,' lawyer says

An inquest into the deaths of seven First Nations students in Thunder Bay must examine the actions of the city's police service, says a lawyer representing the Nishnawbe Aski Nation.

"On anybody's analysis, these cases were treated in a woefully inadequate way," Julian Falconer said outside the Thunder Bay courthouse on Tuesday where he was making arguments about the scope of the upcoming inquest.

The seven First Nation students — Jethro Anderson, 15, Curran Strang, 18, Paul Panacheese, 19, Robyn Harper, 18, Reggie Bushie, 15, Kyle Morriseau, 17 and Jordan Wabasse, 15 — all died in Thunder Bay. Anderson was the first to die in 2000. Wabasse died in 2011.

Presiding coroner Dr. David Eden said the inquest is about safety and "prevention of deaths of First Nations youth who must live off reserve to attend high school."

The lawyer representing Thunder Bay police and the police services board argued that singling out police for additional scrutiny during the inquest would be unfair.

"The reality here is that on a repeated basis these youth were not reported missing in a timely way," Brian Gover said.

If the police investigations are up for questioning at the inquest it also "ought to include steps taken by others to investigate and their decisions to delay reporting to police," Gover said.

One of the students, Kyle Morriseau, was missing for 13 days before he was found dead, Falconer said in his submissions. Gover countered by saying police were not notified of his disappearance for two days.

"It may be determined that Kyle Morriseau died before police even knew he was missing," Gover said. "It's a familiar theme."

Falconer told the coroner he was offended by that argument.

"When Kyle Morriseau was reported missing [police] had a real obligation to hunt for that child," Falconer said. "Telling us later that he might have died already is offensive."

The lawyer representing the families of the students who died said they are expecting a full examination of the police actions as well as the role that racism played in the deaths of their children. If those issues aren't addressed, Christa Big Canoe said families will question the value of an inquest.

"There is a genuine fear of future loss," Big Canoe said of families who are keeping their teens at home, instead of sending them to the city for high school.

After a full day of submissions from all seven parties with standing at the inquest, Eden reserved his decision on the scope. He's expected to make it soon.

The inquest is expected to begin in the fall.