A First Nations chief in Quebec says more judgment was needed after a man was denied access to an overnight shelter in Montreal because of COVID-19 rules, hours before he froze to death.
Innu man Raphaël ‘Napa’ André, 51, was found dead in a portable toilet on Jan. 17, 2021, steps away from the Open Door shelter. Health officials had ordered it to close overnight due to the pandemic.
The Quebec coroner’s inquest into the case heard from Napa André’s chief Tuesday, who believes the man died in vain.
“He could (have been) saved, I believe, if we had to pass over the rules,” said Réal McKenzie, chief of the Innu nation of Matimekush-Lac John.
“They should (have) put the rules on the side. There’s one person outside was agreeing, and they refused it. It’s a judgment, you should use your judgment on this at that time, but it didn’t happen. They didn’t give that guy a chance to go in.”
The shelter at the corner of Milton Street and Parc Avenue closed at 9 p.m. that night despite the cold. A former intervention worker at Open Door said Napa André was at the shelter and was asked to leave.
In an emotional exchange at the inquest in Longueuil Tuesday, coroner Stéphanie Gamache told Chief McKenzie that after hearing from 44 witnesses since the beginning of the inquest, she noted how many people had been touched by Napa André.
“Napa was part of these people, but also was a very human being, you know,” McKenzie said. “He had his mind, he was knowing what he’s doing, but maybe the help didn’t come enough to save him.”
Dr. Stanley Vollant, the medical officer for the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission, made several recommendations, notably for more resources to help the Innu and First Nations homeless populations.
“We are always caring for each other and we let nobody outside when it is cold,” Vollant said. “We invite people to get inside. But in Montreal it’s not the same thing and during the pandemic it was not the same thing. So for us it was nonsense, and I still feel the pain from his mother and his father that Napa died alone in the toilet.”
“For us to have one of ours to die in the city where there’s a lot of buildings, shelters, and to die from cold when it was more easy to die in the country, that for us, it’s nonsense.”
Members of Napa André’s family were scheduled to speak Tuesday, but are now expected to speak Thursday. The hearings began on May 13 and will conclude in mid-June.