News conference today in Regina. Photo courtesy of Manfred Joehnck.
Justice Minister Gordon Wyant has been asked to order a complete and independent review into the handling of a case involving a Regina Indigenous woman who fell 100 feet to her death down a hotel laundry chute in 2005.
An inquest into the death last week answered some questions, but raised many more.
Today, family members and special interest groups held a news conference to call for a review. Delores Stevenson was front and centre, taking the middle chair at a news conference held at a heritage building, about a block from Regina Police headquarters.
She is the aunt of Nadine Machiskinic. They were both about the same age, but led different lifestyles. Somehow, Nadine got off track and into a world of drugs, alcohol and a street life. That life ended on January 10th, 2015 when she fell down a 10th floor laundry chute at the Delta Hotel.
Questions remain on how she got into the small laundry chute. An inquest into the tragedy held last week ruled the death undetermined. The coroner’s jury also rejected the conclusion of the previous provincial coroner who ruled her death was an accident. Stevenson is confident the Justice Ministry will take another look.
“Yes I am, I think this challenges the justice system,” she said. “Every step taken in the inquest does raise questions and concerns within the justice system.”
Stevenson’s lawyer, Noah Evanchuk, hails her as a hero, saying if it wasn’t for her, the inquest would never have been held. He adds he has never seen a case garner so much public interest.
“I have had more comments from the members of the public to me on the street than I have had in my whole career combined,” he said. “What we are seeing today is a push for civilian oversight of our police and our public institutions.”
A lawsuit is also in the works, the Machiskinic family is suing the Delta Hotel for negligence. It is being represented by the Merchant Law Group.
“It’s pathetic we have a coroner’s inquest system that reaches no conclusion and then says nothing and doesn’t criticize in any way. Anybody, including the coroner’s office, the police and the whole justice system — just absolutely pathetic,” said Tony Merchant.
Saskatchewan Justice Minister Gord Wyant issued the following statement in response to Stevenson’s remarks:
“I again want to acknowledge the inquest and in particular the inquest jury for their thoughtful recommendations, hard work and dedication to this process. They sacrificed their time to listen to the testimony and put forward recommendations that they feel will help ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.
The concern last spring was with regard to confidence in the administration of justice and perceptions that questioned that. Having a public inquest into this terribly unfortunate death helped to ease some of those concerns.
Having said that, there were a lot of questions that came out of the inquest and it is up to the responsible agencies such as the RPS, Coroner’s office and the ministry to ensure processes are improved so that these do not happen again.
The family has issued a letter to the Attorney General this morning calling for a review of the investigation. It is important to note that the Attorney General does not direct the actions of police in the province nor would it be appropriate for him to do so.
The Public Complaints Commission is the most appropriate body to hear concerns of this nature. I know they have looked into the matter a year ago and determined at that time they did not have an issue with the work of the Regina Police Service. With the inquest now being complete they might revisit that review but it would be up to them to make that determination if a request was made.
I can only imagine how difficult this has been for the family and friends of Ms. Machiskinic as they continue to seek the closure they need and deserve.”