First flu, now teen’s death in holding cell

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This article was published 18/06/2009 (6277 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ONE of the remote First Nation reserves grappling with the H1N1 flu outbreak is also coping with the suicide of a teenager who died while in police custody.

Calvin Waylon McDougall, 19, was found dead May 7 in a cell at the Garden Hill police station. The death was never made public.

His family says McDougall used a strip of blanket tied to a doorknob in the holding cell to hang himself.

Now questions are being asked why McDougall wasn’t being properly monitored in his cell.

“He was a nice guy — quiet, kind, loving,” said McDougall’s grandfather, Absalom McKay. But McDougall, who worked occasionally as a plumber’s assistant on the reserve, was struggling with the death of his longtime girlfriend, who killed herself on New Year’s Day 2008. He also occasionally partied with friends who drank “superjuice,” a potent, yeast-based homebrew that can produce black-outs.

“When they take that stuff, they don’t know what they’re doing,” said McKay. “We were trying to take care of him. We truly believed he was getting through.”

McDougall was planning to marry his new girlfriend from the nearby reserve of St. Theresa Point this summer. The couple was expecting a child. Garden Hill and St. Theresa Point, two of the province’s poorest and most troubled communities, are in the midst of an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus that has infected hundreds of band members and forced at least 149 people to be airlifted to Winnipeg by air ambulance.

The bands are begging for a field hospital, more supplies and a long-term solution to overcrowding and a lack of sewer and water service to many homes.

A similar epidemic involving youth suicides has prompted aboriginal leaders to call repeatedly for more counselling and funding for youth programs.

Last month, officials from Pukatawagan wrote to Ottawa begging for help with a rash of suicides plaguing the reserve south of Lynn Lake. Youth workers surveyed 10 other northern communities and found that more than two dozen children and teens had committed suicide in the last year, even though Ottawa and the province had pledged to help with suicides. McKay said he knows there’s been money earmarked for counselling services but they never seem to be available when band members need them.

“We lost my granddaughter to suicide three years ago. We never got counselling for that. When Waylon lost his girlfriend, there was no counselling,” said McKay. “I get frustrated. We need some help.”

McDougall’s death also raises questions about how well band constables monitor suspects in the holding cells. McKay said he is trying not to ask those questions, but he said other family members wonder why no one checked on McDougall overnight to ensure he was all right.

McKay said the RCMP donated video monitoring equipment for the cells several years ago but the gear isn’t working properly or doesn’t work in all cells. Garden Hill has its own police department with about six constables who keep the peace and run the police station and small jail.

Const. Sam Monias, who runs the police department, referred questions about McDougall’s death to the band office. Chief David Harper was in Ottawa Wednesday and couldn’t be reached. A band councillor familiar with the issue could also not be reached.

RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Line Karpish said McDougall was taken into custody in the wee hours of May 7 following a disturbance at a home on the reserve. RCMP were called in to investigate after McDougall was found dead, and Karpish said the investigation is almost done. Once it’s finished, it will be forwarded to the chief medical examiner, who automatically triggers an inquest whenever someone dies in police custody.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca