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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The group left Reggie Bushie and his brother Ricky Strang behind, Pascal says b/c 'they were too drunk' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/23/2015 2:39:38 PM -
'They were all pretty drunk,' Pascal says of the group of other students. 'They asked if we would drink with them. We said okay'. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/23/2015 2:36:54 PM
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Pascal says she was at the mall with friends with plans to go to the movies that night when they met up with another group #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/23/2015 2:32:37 PM
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'I only met him for a couple of minutes that night before we went missing,' Pascal says of Bushie #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/23/2015 2:30:57 PM
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First witness is Jessica Pascal, testifying remotely from her home in Pikangikum. She went to school at the same time at Bushie #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/23/2015 2:29:33 PM
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Coroner's counsel gives details about Bushie to start the day. Bushie was 15 when he came out to Grade 9 in #tbay in fall 2007 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/23/2015 2:26:48 PM
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Evidence about Reggie Bushie to start w/remote testimony of 2 friends. Snowy weather prevented Bushie's mom from getting to #tbay #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/23/2015 2:18:51 PM
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Inquest adjourned until Monday, when evidence about the case of Reggie Bushie is scheduled #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:24:32 PM
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'My kids, I talk to them about everything, even though I ask myself am I traumatizing them, but they need to know,' Oombash says #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:23:42 PM
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'We lost a lot of family members to residential school,' Oombash says. 'Everybody thinks about it.' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:16:29 PM
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'It's going to take a long time to clean the tainted blood from residential school,' Oombash says. Her parents are survivors #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:14:44 PM
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'School in the North - they're a few grades behind,' Oombash says, she's already looking for a good boarding home for her son #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:13:58 PM
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Nishnawbe Aski Nation lawyer asks whether she'd prefer to have her son go to high school in a northern community 1/2 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:10:15 PM
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'Honestly, I thought about keeping him home, but he has so much he wants to do,' Oombash says #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:09:01 PM
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Oombash has a 9-yr-old son and says she is scared at the thought of sending him out to #tbay for high school #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:08:29 PM
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Plans changed, I am at the #tbinquest . Teresa Oombash is on the stand, she went to school with Curran Strangby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 3:06:15 PM
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I'm not at the inquest this morning. You can watch the live stream here: cbc.ca/news/canada/th… #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 2:46:21 PM
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'I always think of him' says friend of First Nations student who died
cbc.ca/1.3326931 #tbinquest http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUQVrliWwAAkWu9.jpgby Jody Porter via twitter 11/20/2015 12:34:48 PM -
'I knew who was missing and I knew who to talk to and I went from there,' Gibson says of his response to the error-ridden report #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:48:27 PM
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'Worrying about that mistake at the time didn't even phase me,' Gibson says of mistakes in police missing person report #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:46:28 PM
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'We have kids that run away everyday and come back,' Gibson says. 'It's a matter of resources, you make judgement calls.' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:38:13 PM
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'Media is great for us,' Gibson says, 'well not always but most of the time,' he adds with a big chuckle. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:35:15 PM
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'A lot of things are better now then they were then,' Gibson says of #bay police relationship with First Nations school. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:32:52 PM
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'I was really hopeful he had just taken off for the night as young guys do,' Gibson says. 'It was just a really crummy outcome.' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:31:06 PM
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'There's no law against going missing,' when you're an adult, Gibson says. #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:28:03 PM
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Ratio of lawyers to audience in court room this aft: 2 to 1 + me. 2 audience members are OPP investigators #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:24:19 PM
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'If you grew up here, you'd know,' Gibson tells NAN lawyer Meghan Daniel re: popular spots for youth drinking in #tbay . #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:15:28 PM
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Gibson says 'the only starting point he knew' for search was to asked kids he canvassed on the street if they knew Strang #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:11:41 PM
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Strang reported missing on Sept. 23 2005, Gibson began work on investigation at 8:45 p.m. on 24th ~ 48 hrs after Strang last seen #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:06:42 PM
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'You should report someone as soon as you believe they're missing, the earlier you get started, the better,' Gibson says #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:04:13 PM
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Gibson says there is no #tbay police policy requiring a 24 hr wait to file missing persons reports #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 8:03:22 PM
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Gibson sees empty beer cans there + notes 'if you were a young person, it's a handy spot' private but close to mall, theatre #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:57:04 PM
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Gibson says he searched the area where Strang was last reported near the rail road bridge over McIntyre River 1/2 #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:55:36 PM
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Gibson says police needed permission of school officials to issue a media release about Strang being missing #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:53:42 PM
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Gibson says Strang had outstanding criminal charges revealed when his name was run thru records check after missing person report #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:49:21 PM
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Next witness is Ryan Gibson, he was a Detective Constable with #tbay police the year Strang died #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:43:23 PM
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Juror asks whether it would be helpful to translate reports being sent to Pikangikum into language spoken there. Fraser: yes #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:39:43 PM
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Fraser says sometimes the school would have to buy clothes for students b/c 'they didn't have clothing' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:34:59 PM
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Fraser says a residence could help students 'if it was run properly' w/ private space, + 'not just cheap food, KD and wieners' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:29:11 PM
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Fraser: Students would go to mall intoxicated, security guards, people around there would give them a hard time, call them names #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:24:34 PM
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'They were all so quiet and shut down,' Fraser says of students she worked with. 'They only talked among themselves' #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:18:00 PM
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Fraser went to Pikangikum to do intake of students + 'from seeing it 1st hand, tried to set up counselling' for trauma #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 7:16:41 PM
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Nishnawbe Aski Nation lawyer Meaghan Daniel: Curran was a receptive and resilient student? Fraser: Yes #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:50:31 PM
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On questioning from NAN lawyer, Fraser says she was unaware that Strang often lived on the trap line outside Pikangikum #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:48:39 PM
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Fraser lists litany of problems in Pikangikum : 'it's 'just a very sad community'. She's not from there, doesn't speak Ojibway #tbinquestby Jody Porter via twitter 11/19/2015 5:46:41 PM