Police chief defends decision to keep RCMP report on Machiskinic death secret

Some changes are coming and others have already been made into how police handle major cases, but the review that recommend such improvements will be kept private,  Regina police Chief Evan Bray told reporters on Monday. 

The review followed an RCMP probe into the way Regina police handled the death of Nadine Machiskinic, 29, an Indigenous mother of four discovered fatally injured after she fell 10 storeys down a laundry chute at the Delta Hotel on Jan. 10, 2015. 

"The meeting that we had with the family was very positive. There was some really good, I think, healing words said during the meeting, which is important," Bray told reporters. 

"I know they were frustrated, but making that report public wasn't something that I planned on doing — still don't plan on doing."

Delores Stevenson, Machiskinic's aunt, recently met with Bray and other police brass to discuss the review. 

She later expressed disappointment that police did not reveal the findings of the probe itself. 

"After going through what my family and I had to go through for two years to get where we're at I think that we deserve that much," she said at the time.

Report contains sensitive information

"I don't view it as a lack of transparency," Bray said Monday, adding that asking for RCMP to review its investigation shows a willingness to improve.

Bray says he has been communicating with the family, whom he thanked Monday,or others in the community, but say he has reasons for not publicizing the report. 

"There are techniques in here around major case management and investigation that are, I believe, sensitive to police investigations," Bray said of what's contained in the review. "There's some things that I believe police need to be able to hold sacred to not jeopardize future investigations and really that's the reason for making this decision."

He says nothing in the review hasn't already been discussed during a coroner's inquest into Machiskinic's death, which heard there were missteps and delays, include a communication error by police that resulted in samples meant for toxicology testing to sit in storage for six months.  

The inquest ruled the manner of her death as "undetermined."

"Ultimately a review like this provides positive information for our police service in terms of changes we can make, but I feel like the information contained in the report is really something that benefits the Regina Police Service."

Bray says some policy changes regarding the handling of major cases have already been made. As well, as there has been training for some investigators and supervisors. 

The most significant change to be made early in 2019 will be moving two police officers into a major case management section, he says. 

The investigation into Machiskinic's death is not active, but Bray says police will examine any new information that may come to light.