A large crowd of people marched from the Best Western Gold Rush Inn to Shipyards Park, both in downtown Whitehorse, on April 26, the day after a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of four Indigenous women at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter concluded at the hotel.
Among those marching were members of the deceased women’s families, police officers and local politicians — including Premier Ranj Pillai — along with other members of the public.
The Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council organized the march. It began at the inn at noon, where songs were sung, prayers were said and hide drums were beaten. March attendees then made their way to the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter before continuing to Shipyards Park.
The previous day, the coroner’s inquest into the deaths of Cassandra Warville, Myranda Aleisha Dawn Tizya-Charlie, Josephine Elizabeth Hager and Darla Skookum — all of whom died in 2022 and 2023 at the shelter — wrapped up after weeks of testimony.
The inquest formally concluded when the six-person panel of jurors shared their findings on the evening of April 25. They declared the four deaths “accidental” and made eight recommendations to the Yukon government and Connective — one of the shelter’s operators — to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Among the recommendations made by the jury were that Connective undertake a policy review of the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter within the next six months. Another recommendation called for Connective to prioritize hiring Indigenous staffers and people with “lived experience” to work at the shelter.
On the same day as the march through downtown Whitehorse, Connective provided the News with a written statement about the inquest’s conclusion. The statement acknowledged the “pain and sadness” the three-week inquest had on the four deceased women’s families, friends and communities and expressed gratitude to those who participated in the inquest.
The statement also expressed support for the jury’s recommendations and a commitment to take action in conjunction with the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN), a partner of Connective in the shelter’s operations.
“Now that the recommendations have been released, our focus shifts to what lies ahead, beginning with a careful and considered review of the jury’s findings. Through conversations with CYFN, service users, staff, Yukon government and other community partners, we will map out a plan for short-, medium- and longer-term changes as we look to respond to the recommendations and strengthen service delivery. We are committed to transparency and will provide updates to the community as we reach milestones along the way,” reads the statement from Connective.
READ MORE: Jury in coroner’s inquest rules 4 deaths at Whitehorse Emergency Shelter “accidental”
Contact Matthew Bossons at matthew.bossons@yukon-news.com