THUNDER BAY - Legal representatives for families of six of the seven youth who were subject of the Seven Youth Inquest say progress on the 145 recommendations is being made, but they are worried implementation of short-term and medium-term goals by non-Indigenous parties is beginning to stagnate, which has brought down the overall grade from last year.
“The reason for that drop is not because parties have now slipped in the sense that things that were complete are no longer complete, but rather the reason for the grade drop is progress has not continued to be made in completing a number of these recommendations,” said Jonathan Rudin, program director at Aboriginal Legal Services.
Aboriginal Legal Services presented its year four report card on the Seven Youth Inquest recommendations on Wednesday. The report is meant to grade the progress being made by all parties on the 145 recommendations handed down by the jury in the Seven Youth Inquest in 2016.
The inquest was called following the deaths of Jethro Anderson, Reggie Bushie, Robyn Harper, Kyle Morrisseau, Paul Panacheese, and Jordan Wabasse, who’s families were represented by Aboriginal Legal Services, and Curran Strang, who’s family was not represented. All seven youth died between 2000 and 2011 while attending school in Thunder Bay.
The overall grade this year is a B+, which is down from A- in 2019, but still up from a C+ in 2017.
Rudin said the reason for the drop in grade this year is non-Indigenous parties are not moving forward on short-term and medium-term recommendations.
“We are worried things are stagnating,” he said. “So a B+ is a good grade, but we are down from where we were.”
The federal government, which is responsible for 83 recommendations, received a C+ grade this year, down from a B+ in 2019.
According to the report, 53 per cent of the recommendations are complete, with 41 per cent in progress and six per cent with nothing done.
The provincial government received a B- on its 61 recommendations, down from a B+ in 2019 and it has completed 62 per cent of the recommendations, with 35 per cent in progress and three per cent listed as nothing done.
The city of Thunder Bay saw the largest decline, falling to a B after earning an A in 2019. Of its 31 recommendations, the city has completed 84 per cent, with 10 per cent listed as in progress and six per cent listed as nothing done.
The Thunder Bay Police Service has not received a grade since year two when the Office of the Independent Police Review director issued its report into police service, which included a call for the reinvestigation into deaths of four youth that were subject of the Seven Youth Inquest.
The Police Service will receive a grade again after it has addressed the recommendations in the OIPRD report and regained the confidence of the Indigenous community.
The grading system, which Rudin says evolves year to year, changed this year to penalize parties that have not yet completed or started short-term recommendations, which were anticipated to be complete in one to two years.
“After four years, our expectations is all of the short-term recommendations will be done,” he said. “If nothing has been done on short term recommendations, we are essentially penalizing parties.”
The grades for the four Indigenous parties listed in the report card either stayed the same or saw an improvement.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation remained at an A from 2019 to 2020, Matawa Learning Centre moved from an A- to an A+ in 2020, and Northern Nishnawbe Education Council and Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School and Keewaytinook Okimakanak stayed at an A+ from 2019 to 2020.
“You will not be surprised to see that they are all doing very well because it is their interest in particular to see these recommendations implemented,” Rudin said.
“The work that is yet to be done on the recommendations are the long-term recommendations. Some of those are difficult and take significant investments and those investments need to be made by the provincial and mostly federal government but those are essential to make and we see that now.”
Purpose of report card
Caitlyn Kasper, legal counsel with Aboriginal Legal Services, said each year the report card is a stark reminder of the privilege of having access to secondary education, something many First Nation youth do not have.
As a result, families of the seven youth made the decision to send their children to Thunder Bay to pursue an education away from their home community and loved ones.
“My daughter is 14 and I can’t imagine in all her youth not being close to her, not being able to parent her, and not being able to care for her,” she said. “The thought of being told she did not come home, of any youth in a boarding house not coming home, that they are missing and no one has acceptable answers is incomprehensible and inexcusable.”
“Yet this is the same story that each of these families have experienced with an outcome that is every mother and every father’s worst nightmare.”
Kasper said all parties must continue to do better and everyone has a responsibility to ensure every child is given an equal opportunity to learn and be safe.
“We need to remind ourselves that we aren’t doing the recommendations of this inquest to check requirements off the box,” she said. “We are doing this good work because we are caring for our children who deserve every extra step to ensure their well being.”
Rudin added the COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting some of the key jury recommendations from the inquest, including First Nations communities having access to high-speed internet and no access to safe drinking water.
“If we are truly going to deal with the impacts of the pandemic, we have to deal with the problems as a country we have continued to ignore for years and years,” he said.
“Things are not going to get better until those things get better. As things go on, year five, year six, we want to continue to see progress. We will continue to issue these report cards.”
