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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Students 'didn't open up and speak to us,' Fraser says, adding one student had lost a child, support workers didn't know #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:41:52 PM -
Students didn't understand that support workers wanted what was best for them, Fraser says. "They wouldn't listen' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:40:07 PM
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After Strang's death 'it slowed down with the [students] drinking, but not for very long,' Fraser says #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:39:14 PM
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Fraser: 'We would drive back alleys and look in garbage dumps for our students, break up parties to drag our students home' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:35:33 PM
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'When any of our students went missing we went on a hunt,' Fraser says. 'we periodically had a lot of missing persons' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:34:08 PM
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Fraser wrote her own notes referring to herself in 3rd person about her actions during search 'e.g. Donna drove around city..' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:31:02 PM
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Fraser says when Srang disappeared she asked other students for information but 'they would not say a word,' she says #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:29:01 PM
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'He was on his own little journey," Fraser says. "He was just there for the socializing' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:26:17 PM
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Fraser's evidence Strang not regularly attending school contradicts other witnesses who said he was good student, rarely absent #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:25:11 PM
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'Any incidents we would fax the community,' Fraser says of communication protocol with parents about student behavioural issues #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:19:11 PM
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Fraser says when she would try to call Pikangikum to talk about Strang, there 'was not a lot of English spoken' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:17:02 PM
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Fraser says all she knew of Strang's home community of Pikangikum was 'drinking, solvent abuse, hair spray was a big thing,' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:12:05 PM
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'He was a social butterfly, he enjoyed talking to girls,' Fraser says of Strang #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:11:05 PM
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Strang was 'a very nice young boy, very out-going, easy to talk to, always joking,' Fraser says #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:10:09 PM
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Next witness is Donna Fraser, student support worker for Strang. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:09:25 PM
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Ten minute break to locate witnesses has turned into 45 minutes. Looks like police officer may be next up...eventually #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 4:45:04 PM
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Juror asks whether school has approached Guardian Angels for help with foot patrol, as 'another set of helping hands'. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:51:23 PM
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The foot patrol members are sometimes called 'rats or tattle tales, but they still do it,' Fox says. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:50:22 PM
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Fox says a nightly 'foot patrol' of students walks around 'checks the bridges, look for drunk students, they'll call us,' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:49:39 PM
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'Lately we haven't had any real major concerns with students,' Fox says. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:44:00 PM
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'We haven't had an issue with a missing student this year,' Fox says. 'We had 1 last year.' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:40:41 PM
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Fox says she was told student support workers had to wait 24 hours to report a missing student #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:39:51 PM
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'These kids need boundaries to keep them safe,' Fox says. "They need more boarding homes that are strict with curfew' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:30:20 PM
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Strang just returned from funeral in Pikangikum when he disappeared, Fox says, now 'we keep an eye on them' after funerals #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:19:01 PM
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'If they have a caring adult with them, they'll be fine,' Fox says of key to keeping students safe in the city. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:14:41 PM
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'It's not even just our students,' Fox says. 'A lot of street people' hang out near the rail way bridge over McIntyre River #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:13:05 PM
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Fox says she is concerned for safety of students b/c 'a lot of them drink to the point they don't look after themselves' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:10:22 PM
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'I do see a big change,' Fox says. Principal 'J.K. goes all out for his students. He's really compassionate. He makes us work.' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:07:45 PM
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Fox says things have changed a lot since Strang's death. Student support workers are 'more involved in students' lives.' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:03:27 PM
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'Children coming from the communities always have problems," Fox says.'The don't leave them back home, you see it, you deal w/it' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:01:47 PM
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Fox is now an on-call support worker for students: 'We need to know where all the students are at all times' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 3:00:36 PM
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'I called his [student support worker] said 'can you guys please help this boy?' Fox says. 'I felt like I wasn't getting support' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 2:56:46 PM
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'He thought about suicide, thought he wasn't good enough,' Fox says of Peters. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 2:54:23 PM
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'He was upset, he blamed himself,' Fox says of Peters reaction to Strang's death #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 2:52:43 PM
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Fox says Peters told her he and Strang had an argument and he 'left him by a tree, passed out.' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 2:49:51 PM
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The day Strang went missing Peters came home 'drunk, very drunk and he was dirty,' Fox says , 'I could tell something happened' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 2:48:16 PM
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First witness is Clarissa Fox, a boarding home parent to Adam Peters, (a friend of Curran Strang) in 2005 when Strang died #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 2:45:20 PM
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Snowy weather is causing delay in getting witnesses for start of inquest today, Nov. 19 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 2:38:35 PM
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Lyons says she doesn't know why the police report says what it did. Inquest adjourned for the day #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 9:01:21 PM
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Lawyers land on question to Lyons 'is it fair to say that you can't explain why the [police] document says what it does? 1/2 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 9:00:23 PM
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Point of argument is whether the mistaken date in police missing persons report shows police have no 24hr policy on missing pple #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 8:33:30 PM
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Jury excused while lawyers argue whether Lyons can be asked further questions about the missing persons report #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 8:28:49 PM
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Lyons says she was told it was both police and education council's policy to wait 24 hrs before reporting missing student over 15 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 8:25:51 PM
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Lawyers have referred several times to 2 suicides in Pikangikum Sept. 2005. Strang went home to funeral, came back, disappeared #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 8:18:50 PM
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Lyons says she passed along correct info, doesn't know how mistakes were made #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/18/2015 8:11:39 PM