As the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Myles Sanderson concludes, residents of James Smith Cree Nation and area will now begin their healing journey.
That’s from Wally Burns, Chief of JSCN, after hearing the jury’s decision that Sanderson’s cocaine overdose, and ultimately death, was accidental.
Burns says the community doesn’t hold anything against Sanderson, despite him killing 11 people and injuring 17 others in September of 2022.
“To heal… to start moving forward, is to forgive. That’s one of the things that was given to us not (only) from early age, but from our lifestyle,” Burns explains.
During his arrest on September 7, 2022, Sanderson collapsed and began experiencing seizures, with blood coming from his mouth and nose. Life saving measures were unsuccessful, and Sanderson died at Royal University Hospital just an hour later.
He had been seen moving his hands from his lap to his face repeatedly just moments before RCMP officers removed him from his vehicle during the arrest. In hindsight, officers and medical professionals thought this might have been Sanderson ingesting cocaine before he was taken into police custody.
Commanding Officer with the Saskatchewan RCMP Rhonda Blackmore says the inquest has helped strengthen the relationship between First Nations communities and Saskatchewan’s policing systems.
“Building that trust, both ways, is so critically important…Community is the police and the police are the community, and that is never more true than with First Nations communities. In some cases, we have to rebuild trust that was broken…many years ago. We have to continue to be part of those communities and understand those communities,” Blackmore admits.
After hearing nearly four days of testimonies and evidence, the jury also produced four recommendations that aim to prevent similar deaths in the future. One suggests that the Saskatoon Police Service consider establishing a dedicated team tasked with apprehending individuals who are subject to outstanding warrants for their arrest.
Another recommends the RCMP to consider implementing additional training for enhanced extraction techniques for the purposes of arrest takedowns. A third suggests that the RCMP consider implementing a mandatory enhanced driver training, including the ‘PIT’ maneuver, which is the move that was used to force Sanderson off of Highway 11 and into the ditch where he was arrested. The final recommendation is for the RCMP to consider a review in policy of criteria in a high-speed pursuit and in the interest of the safety to all involved.
Blackmore says the recommendations are relevant to the incident, however situations like that are very rare in everyday policing.
Eddie Head, the JSCN justice and policing director, says the inquest cleared up some misconceptions that community members had about Sanderson’s death.
“There were a lot of rumours that the RCMP were mistreating Myles, but obviously, as you saw in the report, he wasn’t being mistreated…They were trying to save his life, so that really helped our First Nations members that came here from James Smith,” Head noted.
Tim Hawryluk, a lawyer serving as Coroner’s council on the inquest, says interactions with the families from James Smith were a particular highlight for him.
“These circumstances have been extraordinarily difficult on the families in particular, and law enforcement. To see that bridge being built back between law enforcement and the family was a particular powerful moment,” he says.
Chief Wally Burns says in regard to the tragedy, he is still pushing for a national inquiry, as it could bring to light the funding and resources that are needed in Saskatchewan’s policing system.
