Security review needed after 2 Inuk women died on highways near a Dorval centre in 2022: coroner
Posted July 4, 2024 1:07 pm.
Last Updated July 4, 2024 5:44 pm.
MONTREAL — A coroner says a Montreal-area Inuit health establishment should review its security measures in light of the deaths of two patients who were struck and killed on highways within a 24-hour span in 2022.
Coroner Éric Lépine examined the death of one of the two women — Mary-Jane Tulugak, 22 — and issued a series of recommendations in his report released today.
Tulugak and Nellie Niviaxie, 26, had travelled to Montreal for medical treatment and had been staying at Ullivik in Dorval, Que., which is overseen by the Inuulitsivik Health Centre in Nunavik, the northern Quebec territory where the two women lived.
Tulugak was in a wheelchair after surgery, and on Aug. 19, 2022, was barred entry to Ullivik’s living quarters by security because she returned to the centre from a nearby bar and was drunk.
RELATED:
- Inuk woman in wheelchair struck and killed by car on Highway 520
- Two Nunavik women dead in separate Montreal highway incidents
Lépine says the health centre’s protocols stated that a supervisor should have been informed about Tulugak’s attempted entry, but the coroner says that person was on a break and wasn’t informed until after the patient had left.
Tulugak was struck and killed about 380 metres away on Highway 520, and Niviaxie died less than 24 hours later after she was hit on nearby Highway 20.
In a statement to CityNews, Rita Novalinga, the Executive Director of Ullivik says it’s “a place of accommodation where people are free to move around during the day. The well-being and security of residents are central to everything we do at Ullivik.
“Strong relationships with the local police services contribute to user safety. A proactive approach is taken to prevent similar tragedies and ensure that the centre continues to be a safe and caring place for those in need, whether through our internal services, or by assisting in supervising residents outside the facility. “
Coroner Lépine says many of his recommendations have already been implemented by the Ullivik health centre.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2024.
