Vigil held for Errol Greene a year after his Remand Centre death

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This article was published 01/05/2017 (3110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A vigil on Monday marking one year since Errol Greene died in the Remand Centre was held to remind people of his unnecessary death, organizers said.

“We’re just trying to keep Errol Greene’s death in the public eye, and offer support for the family,” said Cecil James, a band councillor at Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation.

Greene’s family also needs financial support for the upcoming inquiry into his death. Under the Fatalities Inquiries Act, the family is not eligible for legal aid because Greene died while in custody.

Greene, 26, died of internal bleeding following epileptic seizures while being held at the Remand Centre.

“Why didn’t he get his epileptic medicine?” said Stephane Doucet, a member of Justice for Errol Greene.

“There was no support in any way (at the Remand Centre). It was just a disaster,” Doucet said.

A case could also be made that Greene was a victim of racial profiling because he is indigenous, Doucet said.

“There’s a question of whether he should have even been in the Remand Centre” for a charge of breaching bail by consuming alcohol, he said.

The vigil of about 80 people outside the Remand Centre was heavily augmented by anti-capitalist protesters on their way to the May Day rally on Memorial Boulevard.

Preliminary procedures for the Greene inquiry have begun with the vetting of witnesses. The date of the inquiry will be determined by the provincial court’s chief judge.