THUNDER BAY — Could a jail psychologist have helped prevent the death of Sherman Kirby Quisses?
Jury members on the coroners inquest into Quisses' death contended that might have made a difference.
Hiring psychologists to be on staff at the correctional centre, and exploring ways to incentivize competitive candidates, was the first of their 24 recommendations aimed to prevent similar deaths.
The three-week inquest concluded on Friday afternoon. The jury determined Quisses had died by homicide and made its recommendations, all directed to the Ministry of the Solicitor General.
Quisses, 35, died on June 4, 2012 during an altercation at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre. He was stabbed in the neck by another inmate.
Adam Capay had been charged with first-degree murder in Quisses’s death but a stay of proceedings was granted after a high-profile human rights challenge.
Capay made national headlines in 2016 when it was reported he was in isolation in a Plexiglass cell with the lights on 24 hours a day.
The stay was granted in 2019 and he was released from custody.
In addition to hiring staff psychologists, the jury recommended that all staff, including health-care staff and contact staff, be knowledgeable about Indigenous program offerings.
The correctional centre’s health-care until should also be regularly reviewed to provide adequate and timely improvements and ensure potential concerns are addressed.
It is also recommended the ministry ensure a mental health unit is created in the new Thunder Bay correctional facility currently under construction. The unit would be “where persons in custody experiencing mental health symptoms, or those being assessed for a mental illness diagnosis, can be housed, assessed and treated.”
The new facility should also have “sufficient dedicated Indigenous cultural space for programming, ceremonies and celebrations, including necessary infrastructure to conduct smudging ceremonies indoors.”
The jury also recommended the ministry recruit Indigenous operational and health-care staff and managers and that all front-line staff and managers and supervisors at the correctional centre should take Indigenous specific-training.
“The training should try to achieve culturally appropriate and trauma-informed models of care specifically for Indigenous people in custody and include information about colonialism, the impacts of trauma and intergenerational trauma. It should also include the use of Indigenous celebration, ceremonies and cultural events to promote awareness of Indigenous communities, strengths and resilience. The training should be designed and delivered by Indigenous people,” the jury recommended.
About 20 witnesses testified during the inquest, including family members of Quisses, correctional and police officers, medical and mental health experts, and community representatives from Neskantaga First Nation.
