Groups in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are calling for Indigenous-led investigations into the deaths of First Nations people in provincial jails.
Lawyer Emma Halpern of the Elizabeth Fry Society is representing the family of Sarah Rose Denny, a 36-year-old Mi’kmaq woman who died in custody March 26.
Me Halpern asserts that M.me Denny died in hospital of pneumonia after being transferred from Central Nova Scotia Correctional Institution.
She is asking on behalf of the family that the Government of Nova Scotia launch a Mi’kmaq-led investigation into the death of Ms.me Denny.
In New Brunswick, the Wolastoqey Nation wants the province to launch an Indigenous-led inquiry into systemic racism in the justice system following the conclusion of an inquest into the death of 28-year-old Skyler Sappier-Soloman.
The province ordered an inquest after Mr. Sappier-Soloman died in hospital on January 31, 2022, two days after his transfer from the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre.