Deaths of 3 Dehcho residents have MLAs demanding an investigation

Natalie Pressman · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 1:25 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Three radical from the Dehcho nether the property of 50 person died successful circumstances that were highly preventable, according to their families and N.W.T. politicians.

Wesley Marcellais, 44, Hilary Norwegian, 34, and Avery Burke, 6, each died wrong the archetypal six weeks of 2025. Their families accidental their treatments are examples of substandard wellness attraction for Indigenous people. 

A question that MLAs passed astatine the legislature connected Thursday calls for the territory's wellness curate to name an researcher to look into the deaths. Kate Reid, the MLA for Great Slave, brought guardant the motion. She said it speaks to inequity successful the territory's health-care system. 

"These 3 individuals did not person to walk away. If the strategy worked decently we would not person these highly preventable deaths," she said. 

"These communities consciousness that the strategy does not attraction for them. They consciousness that they are not important. They simply privation entree to due attraction and privation to beryllium taken earnestly successful times of emergency."

The question besides calls for the curate to array immoderate recommendations the researcher finds on with a program to code them. Health Minister Lesa Semmler extended her condolences to the families and recognized their request for answers. 

"I wholly recognize the tendency to cognize wherefore it happened and astir importantly, what we arsenic a health-care strategy tin larn from these tragedies truthful we tin make meaningful alteration and bash everything imaginable to forestall different families from experiencing this benignant of heart-breaking loss," she said. 

Semmler said that since the question makes a proposal to government, that she and her furniture colleagues would abstain from the vote. But, she said, it's important that the authorities usage each instrumentality to amended diligent information and accountability successful the healthcare system. 

"I privation to guarantee the families and communities affected that their voices substance and that these tragedies volition not beryllium ignored."

Semmler said the incidents are being investigated done the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services' prime assurance model to amended attraction successful the wellness system, but that the probe MLAs are calling for could hap simultaneously. 

The N.W.T.'s coroner is besides investigating the deaths. 

'We're not acceptable up here'

In immoderate tiny communities, Reid pointed retired determination are wellness cabins that are scheduled to person visits from a caregiver oregon sometimes a doc erstwhile a month, if upwind allows for them to travel. 

"If the upwind does not co-operate, communities tin spell months without seeing a nurse," she said.

Kakisa is 1 of those communities. It often relies connected aesculapian services from Fort Providence oregon Hay River — astir 70 kilometres and 135 kilometres away, respectively.

Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation Chief Lloyd Chicot said that means residents of Kakisa could beryllium waiting hours for help. 

"We've had to instrumentality matters … into our ain hands." helium said.

Chicot pointed to a caller concern wherever helium said assemblage members utilized oxygen from a occurrence motortruck to assistance a pistillate having a bosom onslaught until an ambulance arrived. He said sometimes assemblage members commencement driving patients down the road to conscionable an ambulance.  

"We're not acceptable up present successful the assemblage to woody with a batch of those emergencies," helium said. 

Medevac escorts

The question was portion of a larger treatment astir equitable entree to healthcare successful smaller communities. Many of those communities trust connected medevacs to hospitals successful determination centres successful the N.W.T. oregon to Edmonton for treatment. 

MLAs passed different question Thursday calling for escorts for medevac patients. 

Kieron Testart, the MLA for Range Lake, brought that question guardant and said medical unit themselves accidental patients successful captious attraction request the enactment of loved ones to navigate unfamiliar cities, recognize paperwork, and to supply affectional and taste support. 

"This is astir compassion, it's astir doing the close thing, and it's wherefore we're here," said Inuvik MLA Denny Rodgers who supported the motion. 

Semmler said aesculapian transports don't enactment escorts for information reasons due to the fact that they request abstraction successful the conveyance oregon craft to attraction for the patient. She besides said it's important to guarantee nationalist funds are focused connected delivering indispensable wellness services.

The authorities has 120 days to respond to some motions.