Sask. coroner says public inquests will be held for stabbing victims, final suspect
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
The Saskatchewan Coroners Service announced there will be a public inquest held into the deaths related to the mass stabbing in the province on Sept. 4, and a separate inquest into the death of suspect Myles Sanderson, who died shortly after being taken into police custody.
"With the suspect deceased, there will not be a public criminal trial. Without a public hearing of the facts, it will leave many questions unanswered from the families involved and the public pertaining to the circumstances leading to the deaths," said chief coroner Clive Weighill at a press conference Wednesday.
There were nine people killed on the James Smith Cree Nation and one man killed at his home in the nearby village of Weldon, Sask., on Sept. 4. Eighteen others were injured during the knife attacks.
Both of the men police identified as suspects are also dead.
Myles Sanderson, 32, died shortly after being brought into police custody. He was pronounced dead in hospital after going into what the RCMP described as medical distress.
According to a senior government official briefed on the matter by law enforcement, Sanderson died after consuming pills just before his arrest. Multiple police, government and health sources have told CBC News he consumed drugs before police took him into custody following a highway pursuit.
The chief coroner said that details on Sanderson's cause of death will not be released until next year at the public inquest.
However, Weighill also said that preliminary findings have ruled out external blunt force trauma.
Photographs and videos taken at the time of Sanderson's arrest show him standing up, held against an RCMP vehicle as officers detained him.
"Shortly after being arrested, he went into medical distress," said Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of Saskatchewan RCMP, at a news conference that followed Sanderson's death.
She would not answer whether Myles Sanderson overdosed, nor whether officers attempted CPR or used Narcan, an opioid overdose reversal medication.
"All life-saving measures, that we're capable of, were taken at that point in time until the arrival of EMS shortly thereafter," she said.
Last week, Blackmore said RCMP "look forward to providing further details once they have been confirmed."
The notion that home ownership guarantees financial security in old age is being challenged by a recent survey.
The family of Nash Prystie has identified him as the man who died in an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) shooting earlier this month north of Kenora, and is calling for more and quicker help for people with mental health challenges.
Playoff action in the Ontario Hockey League gets underway Thursday night for Guelph and Friday in Kitchener.
UPEI wants its faculty to sign on to an updated version of its sexual assault and discrimination policy, but the union that represents the school's academic staff says it wants the policies to be part of its collective agreement.
In Texas this week for a global energy conference, the federal natural resources minister is proclaiming "Canada is back" and ready to bolster its energy sector and grow exports.
Members of Parliament last year went on the fewest sponsored international trips in the last 15 years, excluding the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ontario is running out of time to beef up rules that would crack down on negligent and misbehaving municipal politicians ahead of the next civic election, some experts and opposition critics warn.
Six London teens are each facing multiple charges following a break-and-enter spree at homes in the city's southwest end early Sunday, police said.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is putting the finishing touches on completing the Team Gushue Highway, but it means drivers might have to change their routes until later this summer.
Passage of the Nova Scotia government's budget bill stalled late Tuesday night when a group of singing protesters shut down the final vote to approve the budget.
Health Minister John Dornan said Woodstock-based eVisitNB will continue to provide virtual health-care services to New Brunswickers for another 90 days after March 31.
The head of Canada's largest airline has been summoned to Ottawa to explain why he spoke only in English when he offered his condolences to the families of those killed or hurt in the collision between a plane and a fire truck at a New York City airport on Sunday.
Manitoba is bucking a national trend by promising to slash its deficit, while boosting health care spending by nearly $1 billion and delivering modest affordability measures, including a PST cut that will save you money next time you buy a soda and bag of chips.