Two years after the deaths of Joey Knapaysweet and Agnes Sutherland, the Ontario Human Rights Commission has filed a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) application alleging discrimination by public service providers in Timmins.
Feb. 3, 2018, 21-year-old Joey Knapaysweet was killed in an officer-involved shooting. Two days later 62-year-old Agnes Sutherland died in hospital after being in police custody. Both were Fort Albany members.
Both deaths were investigated by the province's Special Investigations Unit. The director's findings took a year to release and determined no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges in either case.
The OHRC announced today that it's filing an HRTO application alleging discrimination based on Indigenous ancestry by public service providers.
It names the Timmins Police Service, Timmins and District Hospital, Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board (CDSSAB), and other social service agencies.
"The February 2018 deaths of Joey Knapaysweet and Agnes Sutherland highlight the serious and sometimes tragic result of systemic discrimination against First Nations peoples in Northern Ontario. Both Joey Knapaysweet and Agnes Sutherland traveled to Timmins from Fort Albany First Nation, more than 400 km away, to access health services that were not available in their community. These circumstances left them particularly vulnerable to discrimination," reads the news release.
OHRC commissioner Renu Mandhane was in Timmins in March 2018.
“When I visited Timmins in the weeks after Joey Knapaysweet’s and Agnes Sutherland’s deaths, many people I spoke to linked their deaths to systemic racism and unequal access to essential services,” said Mandhane in today's news release. “The deaths of two vulnerable people who came to Timmins seeking help should be an impetus for concrete action to advance human rights and reconciliation.”
