RCMP investigating New Year’s Day death in Iqaluit jail
Coroner’s inquest will investigate the death of an Iqaluit inmate
An inmate died in an unidentified Iqaluit jail on Jan. 1. (File photo by Mélanie Ritchot)
The RCMP is investigating a death in an Iqaluit jail, according to Nunavut’s Justice Department.
Just after 6 a.m. on Jan. 1, staff members at an Iqaluit corrections facility went into a cell to try to wake up an inmate.
After several attempts with no response, the staff called an ambulance and the person was transported to the hospital and declared dead, according to an incident report obtained by Nunatsiaq News through an access to information request.
The report is heavily redacted, concealing the identities of the inmate, staff members and the name of the facility.
The incident is classified as “medical emergency.”
After the death, RCMP searched the inmate’s cell, and a health care nurse “assessed” other inmates, while nurses offered support to both the inmates and staff, the report said.
The government made no public statements about the incident to “protect the privacy of those involved and to preserve the integrity of the ongoing investigations,” Stephen Shaddock, the Justice Department’s director of policy and planning, wrote in an email Tuesday.
The matter is now under a police investigation, as well as an internal workplace one, Shaddock said.
All deaths in correction facilities are also subject to a mandatory coroner’s inquest. But the office hasn’t announced when that will be yet, Shaddock said.
The Office of the Chief Coroner didn’t respond to a request for comment and Nunavut RCMP declined to provide further details.
The Justice Department also developed an action plan for implementing changes for its corrections services. It lists 34 “current issues” in operations, training, policy and healthcare.
Most of the issues are redacted, but the visible ones include staff vacancies, a lack of training, and old policies that “may not be up to date with current standards/best practices.”
O no Nunavut Corrections System, what a mess this appears to be. I can only imagine there is a significant lack of proper documentation and accountability within the system, and unfortunately it seems that the blame has already been shifted onto someone else instead of addressing the real issues.
From the outside looking in, it raises serious concerns about whether there was an effort to keep this death quiet or avoid public scrutiny. If that is the case, it would be deeply troubling and would only further damage public trust in the corrections system.
Most importantly, this situation is incredibly sad because a person has lost their life. My thoughts go out to the individual’s family and loved ones who are now dealing with this tragedy. While the circumstances are shocking and deserve a thorough investigation, I have to admit that, given the ongoing concerns and challenges that have been raised about the Nunavut corrections system over the years, I cannot say that I am entirely surprised.
A death in custody should always be taken seriously, investigated transparently, and used as an opportunity to identify failures and make meaningful changes so that something like this does not happen again.