Five suicides in Quebec indigenous communities were avoidable: coroner's report

Five suicides that occurred in two indigenous communities in 2015 were avoidable, a Quebec coroner said Saturday in a report that compared Canada's reserve system to apartheid and suggested it was at the root of many of the communities' wider struggles.

Bernard Lefrancois' report was the result of a public inquiry that was ordered in January 2016 after four women and one man died by suicide in a nine-month period.

The victims ranged in age from 18 to 46 and all died between February and October of 2015 in the communities of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam and Kawawachikamach, on Quebec's North Shore.

In his report, Lefrancois wrote the victims all had unique stories and circumstances, but had their aboriginal heritage in common.

"That fact raises the issue of living conditions in these communities even though, when each death is considered individually, each person may have had a different reason for ending his or her life," the report said.

Lefrancois' report concludes the five victims -- four Innu and one Naskapi -- all exhibited at least one of the factors associated with suicide, which can include alcohol and drug consumption, family difficulties, sexual abuse, mental illness and exposure to the suicide of a loved one.

The coroner added that most of the victims had not wanted to die, but wanted to end to their suffering.

In a phone interview, Lefrancois called for improving the living conditions in aboriginal communities and increasing the number of resources as well as the co-ordination between various services in indigenous communities to ensure people receive proper follow-up.

"There were a lot of human resources used by social services after a suicide, but it was requisitioning almost everyone and there was no one left to take care of people at risk," he said.

Lefrancois noted the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam suffers from social problems that include high rates of unemployment, substance abuse and suicide. The troubles are despite numerous community resources including its own police force, social services, three Innu schools, and health service points.

He places the blame for the struggles of aboriginal communities squarely on the reserve system, and describes the Indian Act as "an ancient and outdated law" that treats aboriginal people as wards of the state who are "considered incapable and unfit."

Lefrancois said the residential schools, which were a source of multi-generational trauma, were "only one product, one beast among many others, of the apartheid system that was introduced by our ancestors and that has been preserved to our day."

He said he hoped the report would prompt Canadians to question whether the current system still has its place in 2017.

"In South Africa, they finished by abolishing the system of apartheid," he continued. "They haven't solved all the problems yet, but its much better compared to what it was before."

Ghislain Picard, the Chief of the assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, said Canadian and provincial governments now "have no choice" but to look at the efficacy of the services in place.

That, he said, needed to be matched by efforts within the communities to try to figure out how to intervene earlier to prevent suicides.

Picard also praised the Quebec government for its openness to initiating "a process to take a deeper look at the question of social development in the communities."

Lefrancois' report contains a number of recommendations, including a "specialized resource" in the communities to take charge of persons who are at risk of suicide. That would include a team of caseworkers and psychologists, and be able to offer longer-term follow-up and lodging close to the community.

He noted that one of the communities sometimes doesn't have 24-hour police service due to staffing shortages, and pointed out that a local suicide prevention centre receives few calls from members of the aboriginal community because none of the staff speak Innu or Naskapi.

He also recommended that existing services focus on suicide prevention in youth, with special attention given to the Internet and social networks, as well as more programs that help young aboriginals preserve their culture, identity, and health.