First Nations Student Deaths Inquest
A joint inquest into the deaths of seven First Nations students is running Thunder Bay, Ont. All of the students died between 2000 and 2011 while attending high school in the city, hundreds of kilometres away from their remote First Nations where access to education is limited.
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Missing person report in evidence from police file contains several errors, calls Strang 'a run-away' from a 'foster home' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 8:10:36 PM -
Lyons says she had missing person report ready to file w/police 3 hours before it was filed, waiting for 24 hrs to be up #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 8:09:35 PM
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Mistake in the police missing person report, says Strang was last seen Sept. 23rd, when in fact last seen the previous day #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 8:01:55 PM
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Lyons is the one who filed the missing persons report with #tbay police about Strang's disappearance #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:55:20 PM
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Ontario Regional Chief @ChiefDay , in town for education symposium just arrived at inquest #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:51:15 PM
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Next witness is Traci Lyons, sister to previous witness Tamara Day. Lyons was an on-call student support worker in 2005 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:49:51 PM
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Day says Strang was 'always at school' so his absence set off 'warning bells' the Friday he went missing #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:23:21 PM
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'If he was sent back home [as discipline] he certainly wouldn't get the education to do that,' Day says #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:21:24 PM
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Strang 'really wanted to succeed,' Day says, believes he wanted to be a social worker. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:19:52 PM
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Day says she was unaware of suicide epidemic in Strang's home of Pikangikum but 'heard a lot of stories abt gas sniffing' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:16:19 PM
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Day says for Strang 'to even be gone one night, I would have been very disturbed' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:14:09 PM
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Student support worker Tamara Day says school policy was to call police ASAP for missing students under 15, wait 24hrs if older #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 7:11:18 PM
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Benson says Strang 'loved his family a lot, like he didn't want to leave them but knew he had to, to further his education,' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:36:10 PM
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Benson says students didn't tell anyone about the racism b/c 'we were used to it'. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:29:59 PM
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'They would drive by and yell at us 'go back to your land' meanwhile, this is our land,' Benson says of racist incidents #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:29:12 PM
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'We would get egged by White kids,' Benson says, 'I mean non-Native kids, sorry I didn't mean to sound racist' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:28:00 PM
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'It was a whole new world being out there,' Benson says of school in #tbay . 'Different language,different people,different scene' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:26:07 PM
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Benson says students were afraid of 'being humiliated' by boarding home parents if they spoke up about concerns #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:20:35 PM
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'Students boarding homes were not safe," Benson says, adding some boarding home parents locked cupboards, students went hungry #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:18:41 PM
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Benson on student's council at Dennis Franklin Cromarty school, says he talked to school officials about boarding home concerns #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:17:00 PM
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Benson says he and his friends took part in the search for Strang, 'we scoured the area', says he was 'devastated' by his death #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:13:50 PM
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'We didn't give him anything b/c we didn't want to be involved if something did happen,' Benson says. 'We told him to be careful' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:12:30 PM
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BEnson says he last saw Strang at the mall asking for $ to go to the LCBO. 1/2 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:11:13 PM
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'I didn't hang around with him when he was drinking,' Benson says of Strang. 'I don't drink, like I'm not a party person' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:10:13 PM
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Benson says he befriended Strang b/c 'he was new + his English was pretty poor. I was there 2 support him b/c I was there longer' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:08:02 PM
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Next witness is James Benson, from Weagamow Lake First Nation. He went to high school in #tbay w/Curran Strang #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 4:04:41 PM
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Recess while coroner's counsel sorts out logistics of getting next witness via teleconference from Weagamow Lake First Nation #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 3:38:39 PM
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Juror asks if Strang showed signs of being deprerssed. Dunville: 'no, but like I said, it's hard to tell.' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 3:34:21 PM
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Dunville says she doesn't remember what, if any action, was taken after Strang's hat and shirt were brought to meeting #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 3:24:49 PM
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Dunville says during search for Strang, someone said they knew where his hat and shirt were, retrieved them, returned to meeting #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 3:24:05 PM
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Strang lost a close friend to suicide in 2004, 2 other losses in fall 2005, according to q's from PACY lawyer Chantelle Bryson #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 3:18:58 PM
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'Are you sure you called someone' the night Strang disappeared? Northern Nishnawbe Education Council asks. Dunville: yes #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 3:11:55 PM
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Dunville says she can't recall talking to police after Strang's body was found #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 3:07:54 PM
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Dunville says she was not contacted by #tbay police until 2 days after she last saw Strang, 1 day after missing person report #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 3:05:34 PM
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'It affected me very hard,' Dunville says of Strang's death. 'I had grown very close to Curran' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:59:05 PM
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Dunville says she went to meeting at the school, was told students had been out drinking 'under the bridge' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:55:26 PM
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Dunville says she called school officials to say Curran wasn't home, says she was told to call back in the am if he didn't appear #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:53:18 PM
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Later that week, in Sept. 2005, Curran "took off" after eating supper at his boarding home, Dunville says #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:51:15 PM
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Dunville says Strang was grounded after he was caught drinking after returning to #tbay from funeral in Pikangikum #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:48:51 PM
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Strang 'seemed like a very happy young fellow,' Dunville says. "I treated him like I treated my own kids." #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:43:54 PM
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Dunville hosted 3 students plus her own 3 kids. 'I asked for all males, thought they'd be easier to handle' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:41:26 PM
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First witness is Patricia (Patsy) Dunville, she was Strang's boarding home parent when he died in 2005 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:35:13 PM
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A friend, boarding home parent, support worker all scheduled to testify. Start time delayed as officials look for 1st witness #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:25:41 PM
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Strang is the only one of the 7 students who died whose family does not have legal representation at the inquest #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:23:47 PM
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Back at First Nation student death inquest today looking at death of Curran Strang of Pikangikum. He was 18 when he died in 2005 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 2:21:59 PM