Canada: sloppy police work and racism marred inquiries into Indigenous deaths

Independent Canadian investigators call for reinvestigation of 14 deaths of Indigenous people in northern Ontario

A group of independent investigators have called for the reinvestigation of the sudden deaths of 14 Indigenous people in a north Ontario city, after finding that the original inquiries were hampered by sloppy police work and a legacy of institutional racism.

The team have examined hundreds of deaths between 2003 and 2017 in Thunder Bay, the largest city in the northern reaches of the province - and one where the police force has long faced allegations of racism within its ranks.