Yukon premier apologizes for deaths linked to shelter

WHITEHORSE — Yukon’s premier has apologized ahead of an inquest into the deaths of four Indigenous women who were accessing services at the Whitehorse emergency shelter.

Ranj Pillai said governments have a responsibility to ensure the safety, well-being and dignity of everyone looking for help.

“The premature loss of life under any circumstance is unacceptable. Cassandra, Myranda, Josephine and Darla were seeking our help, and their lives still ended too soon. For this, we are deeply sorry,” he said during a news conference on Friday.

Cassandra Warville, Myranda Tizya-Charlie, Josephine Elizabeth Hagar and Darla Skookum died between January 2022 and April 2023 when the shelter was being run either by the government or a non-profit organization.

When chief coroner Heather Jones first announced the inquest in 2022 for Warville and Tizya-Charlie, she said the deaths where “found to be the result of toxic illicit drugs.” The cause of deaths for the other two women have not been released.

The territory has been hit particularly hard by toxic drugs. In 2022, Yukon led the country in the per-capita rate of illicit drugrelated deaths.

The territorial government operated the shelter from 2019 until 2022 when the non-profit, Connective, and the Council of Yukon First Nations took over operations.

A report published in 2023 found the shelter is meeting people’s basic needs but pointed out a number of concerns including that some women, in particular, are not accessing the shelter due to concerns related to safety.

Deputy premier Jeanie McLean said at the news conference on Friday that the government is providing funding for community members to travel to Whitehorse to be with the families during the inquest.