Inquest for 2 First Nations men who died in police custody in Thunder Bay, Ont., begins today

It's been years since Don Mamakwa and Roland McKay, both from Oji-Cree First Nations in northwestern Ontario, died separately while in police custody.

The families of the two men now hope a coroner's inquest that begins today (Tuesday) in Thunder Bay, Ont., will give them answers surrounding the circumstances of their deaths.

Mamakwa, 44, of Kasabonika Lake and McKay, 50, of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug died Aug. 2, 2014, and July 20, 2017, respectively, in their cells when they lost vital signs (related to medical illness, according to court information) while being detained at Thunder Bay Police Service headquarters. Both men had been arrested on allegations of public intoxication. Coroner's inquests are mandatory in Ontario when a death occurs while someone is in custody or detained.

Denise Tait, a niece of both Mamakwa and McKay, plans to be in attendance for all 17 days set aside for the inquest.

He obviously needed help. That's why the ambulance was called …​​​​​​​ instead, they cleared him and took him to jail.- Denise Tait on what happened to her uncle, Roland McKay

Tait said she wants to know who made the decision to medically clear McKay of any health concerns and send him to the police station instead of the hospital.

"He obviously needed help. That's why the ambulance was called," Tait told CBC News. "Instead, they cleared him and took him to jail.

"I've been waiting years to get this answer."

The inquest will try to answer a number of questions, including:

• How racism, bias and stereotypes may have played a role in the police and paramedics' treatment of Mamakwa and McKay.
• How people suspected to be intoxicated are assessed by first responders.
• Whether it's appropriate to take them into police custody.

Rachel Mamakwa said she has mixed feelings about the start of the inquest, more than eight years after her brother Don died.

"Every time this comes up … the feelings come back from that day when we lost him. The hurt and anger," Rachel said.

She said she hopes the inquest leads to change so no one else dies in the police station and people get the supports they need.

"Take them to the hospital instead of the jail for them to die there, like what happened to my brother. He wanted to go to the hospital."

Police custody deaths a national problem

Mamakwa and McKay are among 61 people across Canada who have died in police custody since 2010 after being detained for public intoxication or similar offences, according to a CBC News investigation story published late in 2021.

The investigation, which examined roughly 250 deaths in police custody in Canada, found a majority of the 61 people were sent to a cell for the night because police thought they were a danger to themselves or others.

In 17 of the cases, someone died after their medical condition was downplayed or ignored and 13 died after they were not properly monitored by police officers or guards.

That was an issue in the death of Mamakwa, according to an investigation by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario's police watchdog agency.

Their 2015 investigation report noted that Mamakwa was experiencing breathing difficulties, but was left unattended in the police cell for nearly five hours before his death.

The 2021 CBC News investigation also found most of the police custody deaths occurred in rural police detachments, often in communities where there are no detox or sobering centres.

While there is a detox centre in Thunder Bay, the SIU investigation found no beds were available at the centre on the night McKay died, so he was brought to the police station instead.

The SIU said it did not find sufficient evidence to charge any of the responding officers in the two deaths, but first responders must still be held accountable, said Asha James, a lawyer representing the families of both men.

"For the families, it doesn't end there. The treatment that both Don and Roland received — you know, the ignoring of their request for medical aid, assumptions that were made about their level of intoxication and their need for medical treatment — while might not be criminal, it's a definite problem," James told CBC News.

"They're stories that we've heard Indigenous people in Thunder Bay tell over, and over, and over again about these interactions they have with the police and with EMS."

Two reports released in December 2018 found evidence of systemic racism toward Indigenous people by both the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) and its oversight board.

Inquest to examine role of racism in deaths

The role racism may have played in the treatment of Mamakwa and McKay will be a central question for the coroner's jury to consider, James said.

After a legal fight between the TBPS and the families, video footage of a third man being dragged inside the TBPS station will be included as evidence.

That man, Dino Kwandibens of Whitesand First Nation, was brought into custody just minutes after Mamakwa in 2014.

To see the original videos of Kwandibens in Thunder Bay police custody, follow this link (Warning: The videos contain disturbing images).

"For a long time, we've heard the stories, but it's very different when people see it and they hear it," James said.

"One of the things that I'm hoping is that kind of visual representation is going to create a real eye-opening moment for some of the community members in Thunder Bay who haven't realized the depth of what's been going on in the relationship between the police service and Indigenous people in the city."

Leaders representing two-thirds of the First Nations in Ontario called for the TBPS to lose their power to investigate deaths of Indigenous people and for the TBPS to be disbanded completely.

Those calls came after a report was leaked to CBC News that found significant deficiencies in death investigations of Indigenous people, and concluded at least 16 should be reviewed or reinvestigated. That report followed an earlier one in 2018 that called for the reinvestigation of an additional nine deaths of Indigenous people in the northwestern Ontario city.

A spokesperson with the TBPS declined the opportunity to comment on the deaths of Mamakwa and McKay or matters surrounding police interactions with intoxicated individuals, saying it would be best for those issues to be discussed during the inquest.

Inquest juries are prohibited from making any finding of legal responsibility or expressing any conclusion of law, the province says. In recommendations to prevent other deaths, juries also can't assign blame or "state or imply any judgment." 

Family members of Mamakwa and McKay are expected to testify on the first day of the inquest. The Ontario government expects there will be 31 witnesses in total.