Family calls for inquiry into woman’s death

The front steps of the Nova Hotel in Iqaluit where Elisapee Michael fell this past August, are pictured Oct. 5. Michael’s family is calling on Premier Eva Aariak to order a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Michael’s death. The yellow tape and wooden barriers in this picture are related to a municipal works project, not the investigation. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

Elisapee Michael’s family wants Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak to call a public inquiry into Michael’s August death after being arrested by the RCMP in Iqaluit.

On Oct. 2 Scott Wheildon, a lawyer with Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik who’s representing the family, delivered a written request to Aariak’s office.

“We believe that public confidence has been lost in [the hospital and the RCMP] as a result of this,” Wheildon said in an interview Monday.

Wheildon said Michael’s family wants the inquiry to ensure similar deaths don’t occur in the future.

In an interview, Aariak said she agrees with the need to prevent similar deaths in the future. But she ruled out calling a public inquiry, saying it would interfere with the investigations already underway by the police and coroner.

“I am committed to finding answers, but I would ask that we allow due process to take place,” Aariak said Monday.

“If a coroner’s inquest does occur, the process would in fact amount to a full public inquiry.”

A coroner’s inquest is a judicial process that can be used to inquire into unexplained deaths. Witnesses may be compelled to give evidence under oath before a jury, which is allowed to make recommendations to improve public safety.

In his letter to the premier, Wheildon writes that Nunavut should develop:
• ways to force bars “to ensure that intoxicated persons are not placed in harms way;”
• ways to prevent the hospital from sending “its most critical patients to the RCMP for housing,” and;
• ways to ensure the RCMP “provides the proper care required for its detainees.”

Last month, RCMP superintendent Steve McVarnock told reporters that cells at the Iqaluit detachment are monitored by video and checked by an officer on duty every 15 minutes.

RCMP Sgt. Jimmy Akavak said the decision to call a public inquiry rests with the coroner and the commissioner’s office, on the advice of cabinet.

Akavak said the RCMP is still conducting its investigation. He said because the death did not happen in the RCMP’s cells there’s no automatic inquiry. “There’s a number of players, not just the RCMP,” he said.

But Akavak added the police would cooperate fully with a public inquiry to help the family find answers.

“They have the right to know,” he said.

Michael died Aug. 9 after sustaining a head injury falling down the front stairs of the Nova Hotel. She was taken to Qikiqtani General Hospital.

But hospital staff phone the RCMP and ask that they deal with Michael. Police arrest her and put her in a cell at the Iqaluit detachment. Later, police phone the hospital to see if staff are willing to accept Michael and are allegedly told the hospital is too busy.

Three hours later, Michael is found on the floor of her cell “in distress.” She’s taken back to Qikiqtani General, then flown to Ottawa where she died four days later.

Wheildon said the family has no plans to sue against the hospital, hotel or police but that “no options have been taken off the table.”