'I don't want anybody else to experience this,' says father of Iqaluit woman who died on Boxing Day

Every morning, Kingwatsiak Kingwatsiak and Elisapi Naluiyuk would spend some father-and-daughter time together at the dining table.

"I always make her breakfast because the brothers like to sleep in," Kingwatsiak recalled.

He never thought that this past Christmas Day would be the last time he would get to do that.

He believes Naluiyuk went to a party later that night. The next morning, his 20-year-old daughter wasn't home.

Then later that day, police knocked on his door with news that would change his life forever: Naluiyuk was dead. 

In a Jan. 3 news release, Iqaluit RCMP say they responded to a report of an unresponsive woman on Dec. 26. Police say the woman — who they did not name — was taken to hospital and declared dead shortly after.

The release says that the RCMP's general investigative section, with support from the major crimes unit and the Nunavut Coroner's Office, are investigating what they're calling a "sudden death." 

There were no details about any charges laid, and RCMP said they won't provide any more information while the investigation is ongoing. An autopsy report is yet to come.

Without answers, the thought of what might have happened to Naluiyuk that night still haunts her father.

"I just started reliving what my daughter went through, all through the night," Kingwatsiak said. 

'Not just about my daughter'

Kingwatsiak is also pained by the idea that his daughter did not live long enough to receive the help she needed for a healthier life.

A few years back, Naluiyuk was living in Ottawa with her older sister, but Kingwatsiak said he asked Naluiyuk to move back to Iqaluit when she started struggling with alcohol. 

They had completed all the applications for treatment, Kingwatsiak recalled — but Naluiyuk never got that treatment. That frustrates Kingwatsiak who says others he's spoken to have received treatment within weeks of applying.

"Why is it taking three months [for Naluiyuk], and everybody else is waiting three weeks? And now she's dead," Kingwatsiak said. 

"Our young people who are seeking help… they're not taken too seriously."

Filled with grief, he said he set up a meeting with the Nunavut premier and other ministers, where he also expressed his concerns about the safety of women and girls in the territory. 

"What I'm concerned about is not just about my daughter, but everybody else's," he said.

"I don't want anybody else to ever experience this." 

In a statement to CBC News, Minister of Justice David Akeeagok said he was deeply saddened by the death, and is taking Kingwatsiak's concerns very seriously. 

The Department of Health also provided a statement, which said seeking treatment can be a process with several steps to match individuals with the appropriate services.

But it said it's actively working to streamline that process, which include enhancing its pre-treatment and aftercare support, community-based services, as well as partnerships with treatment centres.

Kingwatsiak describes his daughter as somebody who was friendly, full of life, and would protect the people she cared about.

He recalls an incident in Ottawa where she punched a drunk man who was making sexual innuendos at her and her girlfriends. 

"I was like, 'you shouldn't be doing that, hitting people.' She said, 'well, they shouldn't be saying that to us either'. That's how serious she was about life and caring about her friends," Kingwatsiak said.

"I still don't believe she's gone. I don't know how long that feeling is going to be with me… like who did this to my baby?"