Coroner investigating after 2 Inuuk women fatally struck in Montreal while staying at health centre
Quebec coroner Éric Lépine has been assigned to investigate the deaths of two Inuuk women who were killed on Montreal highways in the space of two days.
Both women were staying at the Ullivik health centre after travelling south from northern Inuit communities.
Mary Ninguik is from a village of only a few hundred people and travelled to Montreal to give birth. She is also staying at Ullivik and was saddened to hear that 22-year-old Mary-Jane Tulugak from Puvirnituq and 26-year-old Nellie Niviaxie from Umiujaq were killed on two separate highways in the early hours of Friday and Saturday respectively.
"I heard about it, the first one (Tulugak). I knew her, and she was younger than me, and I've known her since maybe I was 12 or 13," said Ninguik.
CTV News reached out to Ullivik for answers but was directed to the Nunavik Regional Health Board of Health and Social Services (NRHBHSS).
"Although isolated, each case is extremely traumatic for everyone involved," said health board spokesperson Steve Kelly. "Circumstances seem to be very similar to the first one, someone who was residing at Ullivik very temporarily."
Kelly said Niviaxie was accompanying someone who was receiving care.
It is not the first time a person staying at Ullivik has perished while staying at the facility.
In April, a man staying there was killed by a train on nearby tracks, and in 2018 a woman was struck and killed by a truck a few blocks away.
Neither was deemed a crime by police.
Most residents at Ullivik are from small northern communities and face a much different reality when coming south to Ullivik on the side of a major highway in Montreal's Dorval suburb.
"It's different in the village," said Suvaki Tooktoo. "There's no traffic... There's no park space or anything, no shops."
Sources with knowledge of Montreal's Inuit community told CTV News they're concerned about the lack of coordination and services provided at the centre.
The health authority said a stay at Ullivik is similar to a hotel stay, and that they can't force them to stay inside or monitor their activities.
"They're like anyone else staying in a hotel or staying in nearby areas," said Kelly. "We don't have control over their coming and going. We tried to sensitize them about being down south, staying in Montreal, the dangers, so on and so forth, not just in regards to traffic but just the difficulties being in Montreal coming from a northern community."
A spokesperson for Quebec's Minister of Indigenous Affairs Ian Lafreniere, said he has spoken with people at the Nunavik health board.
"I am reassured by the follow-up that will be done directly with Ullivik," said spokesperson Mathieu Durocher in an email.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW A mother's hopes to free her son from a Syrian prison is revitalized by a new human rights report
Just days before the seventh anniversary of the day Jack Letts was thrown in prison with thousands of suspected ISIS fighters, his mother, Sally Lane, delivered a small stack of envelopes to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Oilers dominate special teams to eliminate Kings in 5 games
The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings played a tight-checking series at even strength. But the special teams matchup was lopsided - and that's why it ended in five games.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Imagine living in a 4-foot body that doesn't develop chronic diseases
Nathaly Paola Castro Torres has a rare disorder called Laron syndrome that is caused by a genetic mutation. It stunts her growth but also provides a hidden silver lining: Her body is protected from chronic diseases such as cancer that often take life away long before old age.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."