Aboriginal body wants inquest into death of ‘suicidal’ prisoner
Days after the death of 27-yearold Saskatchewan Penitentiary inmate Curtis Mckenzie, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) is calling for the Saskatchewan Coroners Service to complete an inquest into his death, believing that Correctional Services Canada (CSC) refused to acknowledge that Mckenzie was suicidal.
According to CAP, Mckenzie committed suicide while in custody. In a statement to the Starphoenix on Tuesday, the CSC would not confirm the cause of death.
“I am deeply disturbed about what has happened to Curtis. I know that he cried out for help and Correctional Services Canada refused to acknowledge that he was suicidal. I believe CSC was derelict in their duties. I have sent out an email to the Office of the Correctional Investigator,” CAP National Vice-chief Kim Beaudin said in a statement.
Beaudin, who previously had supported Mckenzie as an outreach worker, also noted that Mckenzie was “made to sign” a Criminal Code Section 810 order, also known as a peace bond, before he was released from a previous sentence. He was then re-incarcerated in May 2018 after violating the order by succumbing to a drug addiction he had battled in the past.
Refusal to sign a peace bond can result in up to another year in custody.
“Signing the ... 810 was his death sentence,” Beaudin’s statement read. “How many times has the corrections system failed Indigenous people? He was struggling with trauma, mental health issues and addiction, and not once received proper care from Correction Services Canada. His mental health deteriorated after CSC put him in extended solitary confinement. That is considered torture by the United Nations. He needed treatment, not torment.”
“These orders were created to protect individuals who have reasonable grounds to fear for themselves or their family’s safety,” CAP National Chief Robert Bertrand added. “But now they are being used on a wide range of cases, laying conditions on people even if no specific individual has reasonable grounds to fear for their safety.”
According to the statement, the parole board previously had acknowledged that Mckenzie’s mental health issues “remained unaddressed” while in custody, despite several requests by Mckenzie and other advocates for alcohol and drug treatment.
Mckenzie was receiving support from Str8 Up, an organization that helps people leave the gang lifestyle, before he was re-incarcerated in 2018. While Mckenzie was in court in August 2017 after assaulting a police officer during a river rescue, his lawyer, Kim Armstrong, said he had been doing well on statutory release: he was sober and had secured a job, but when stressful situations arose in his life, he coped by mixing alcohol with methamphetamines.
The CSC said Mckenzie had been serving a federal sentence of two years and one day for breach of recognizance and breaking and entering (not a dwelling house).
The sentence had started on May 30, 2018.
The CSC said it will review the circumstances of Mckenzie’s death and police and the Saskatchewan Coroners’ Service will be notified in accordance with CSC policy.