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Montreal Gazette
21-05-2025
- Health
- Montreal Gazette
Letters: Coroner's report into homeless man's death must be followed by action
There are some Gazette articles that should never be forgotten. One such article tells the story of Raphaël André, the Innu man who froze to death overnight next to a closed homeless shelter and the subsequent coroner's inquest. The recent 75-page report by coroner Stéphanie Gamache, which analyzes the circumstances surrounding the death and offers recommendations to prevent future homeless tragedies, must be implemented. Gamache paraphrased the powerful message by the victim's mother by telling the inquiry that on Jan. 16, 2021 — in a city with more than a million doors — all were closed that night. Let us always have doors that are accessible to those in need. Meanwhile, as Gamache noted, a warming tent placed in Cabot Square in André's honour has been used by over 108,000 people in the 14 months it was open. Shloime Perel, Côte-St-Luc Medical specialists deserve gratitude An expression of profound gratitude is extended to Dr. Vincent Oliva, whose voice on behalf of Quebec's medical specialists — in a full-page ad in the May 20 Gazette — has vowed to continue to care for Quebecers despite the policies of the CAQ government that have created 'untenable conditions' for the venerable profession. It is reassuring to know that our doctors will respect their Hippocratic Oath. Vivianne M. Silver, Côte-St-Luc A few proposals by special delivery With the rise of email, text messages and social media, home mail delivery is not as essential as it was 30 years ago. However, completely eliminating it would create challenges, especially for seniors and people with special needs. Reducing home delivery to two days per week, instead of five, could reduce costs while still allowing mail carriers to make their rounds and potentially notice overflowing mailboxes of seniors, suggesting a welfare check by authorities is needed. For people who still prefer home delivery over a P.O. box or a community mailbox, it could be offered for a monthly fee of, say, $20 per home address, but free for seniors and people with special needs. Ragnar Radtke, Beaconsfield Blame belongs with aggressor Re: ' Trump says Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks will begin 'immediately'' (NP Montreal, May 20) It is morally reprehensible and factually inaccurate when Donald Trump and his administration appear to assign equal culpability to both sides of the Kremlin-orchestrated war against Ukraine. Threatening to 'walk away' and let them thrash it out fails to take into account that one side is the powerful aggressor and the other the greatly outnumbered victim. Painting Volodymyr Zelenskyy as 'difficult,' as Trump has done in public comments, suggests the U.S. president now expects Ukraine's capitulation to achieve his dream of being a 'peacemaker.' Natalie Turko-Slack, Pierrefonds Submitting a letter to the editor Letters should be sent by email to letters@ We prioritize letters that respond to, or are inspired by, articles published by The Gazette. If you are responding to a specific article, let us know which one. Letters should be sent uniquely to us. The shorter they are — ideally, fewer than 200 words — the greater the chance of publication. Timing, clarity, factual accuracy and tone are all important, as is whether the writer has something new to add to the conversation. We reserve the right to edit and condense all letters. Care is taken to preserve the core of the writer's argument. Our policy is not to publish anonymous letters, those with pseudonyms or 'open letters' addressed to third parties. Letters are published with the author's full name and city or neighbourhood/borough of residence. Include a phone number and address to help verify identity; these will not be published. We will not indicate to you whether your letter will be published. If it has not been published within 10 days or so, it is not likely to be.
Montreal Gazette
15-05-2025
- Health
- Montreal Gazette
Innu man who froze to death in Montreal ‘not solely responsible for his fate,' coroner says
By Gaps in health-care services, COVID-19 restrictions and a lack of resources for the unhoused all contributed to an Innu man's death in Montreal in 2021, a Quebec coroner has concluded. Coroner Stéphanie Gamache has put forward 23 recommendations as a result, including that Quebec bolster services for Indigenous people in the health network and better fund resources for the unhoused. Raphaël 'Napa' André, 51, was found frozen to death in a portable toilet in January 2021, steps away from a homeless shelter that had paused overnight stays due to pandemic restrictions. 'We must express our indignation at the fact that several doors were closed to Mr. André in the last months of his life,' Gamache wrote in her 75-page report published Thursday morning. 'Many people worked with dedication and to the best of their abilities to try to help Mr. André,' she continued. 'However, despite all the efforts made, I found several gaps in the trajectory of care and services until his death.' A public coroner's inquest into André's death was held last summer, hearing from 51 witnesses over two weeks and leading to Thursday's report. Originally from the Innu village of Matimekush-Lac John in northern Quebec, André struggled with chronic alcoholism and was a regular at Montreal shelters serving the Indigenous community. A week before his death, Quebec instituted a province-wide curfew to stem the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations and the shelter where he was a regular, the Open Door, was no longer accommodating overnight stays. The inquest heard how, on the day before he was found dead, André visited shelters three times and was treated at the ER of the CHUM hospital in downtown Montreal. He walked to another shelter after leaving the hospital, but was told by a worker he couldn't stay the night because he didn't want to take a COVID-19 test. He then went back to the Open Door, but was eventually told he had to leave because there were no more overnight stays. He was found the next morning in the portable toilet. Despite the fact it was only about minus-3 C that night, a pathologist ruled it was hypothermia that killed him. His blood alcohol level was more than four times the legal driving limit. 'Had a door been opened for him, and had he had a warm and safe place to stay for the night, it is clear to me … that he would not have died, even though he was highly intoxicated by alcohol,' Gamache wrote in her report on Thursday. 'It is therefore impossible for me to conclude that Mr. André was solely responsible for his fate.' Gamache paints a detailed portrait of the years and months leading to André's death in her report, analyzing each of the interactions he had with the health network, police, and homeless shelters. She questions why no one took charge of him after losing his family doctor in 2020 — despite his many health issues — and how he was allowed to continue slipping through the cracks in his last days. Gamache notes that she heard several different theories as to why André sought shelter in the portable toilet the night of his death, including that he might have been trying to hide from police given his distrust in authorities and the curfew that was in place. 'Mr. André's last refuge' 'The many hypotheses raised do not change the obvious, which is that this chemical toilet becomes Mr. André's last refuge, since no other place is accessible to him,' Gamache wrote. She also noted how, a few days after André's death, a shuttle began making the rounds at night to redirect unhoused people to shelters that were open. While questioning whether the service could have saved André's life, Gamache noted it certainly would have improved his chances at survival. But as the report makes clear, homeless shelters and the health services governing them were scrambling to adapt to the pandemic and the upheaval it brought. 'In the future, we need to ensure that we have a response adapted to the problems of unhoused people in the context of a health emergency,' Gamache wrote. Gamache's recommendations revolve around five themes. They include the importance of ensuring unhoused people are properly followed in the health network and securing permanent funding for emergency shelters. Gamache will present her findings at a news conference Thursday.
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Quebec coroner releases report in death of homeless Innu man in 2021
MONTREAL - The death of an unhoused Innu man whose body was found inside a portable toilet in Montreal highlights the need for additional efforts to combat homelessness, a Quebec coroner said Thursday. Raphaël 'Napa' André died on Jan. 17, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. His body was found steps away from the Open Door shelter in Montreal that was closed by public health officials because of plumbing problems and a COVID-19 outbreak. Quebec had also imposed a nighttime curfew to curb the spread of the virus. Coroner Stéphanie Gamache's report includes 23 recommendations, such as better communication between actors in the health network and culturally-sensitive accommodations for Indigenous peoples. 'The problem of homelessness is complex and this public inquiry cannot, unfortunately, provide all the answers,' Gamache wrote. 'However, we are fortunate to live in a society that is making efforts to reduce social inequalities.' Her report also recommends turning seasonal emergency shelters into permanent year-round services and ensuring emergency health plans better account for the needs of homeless people. André's death was attributed to hypothermia in the context of severe alcohol intoxication. Gamache is scheduled to hold a news conference in Montreal later Thursday. The coroner's inquest on André's death was held in May and June 2024. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Death of 15-year-old from synthetic opioid should be 'sounding the alarm,' says Quebec coroner
A Quebec coroner says the 2023 death of 15-year-old Mathis Boivin should be "sounding the alarm" on the importance of preventing opioid use and dependency among young people. Coroner Stéphanie Gamache found that the Montrealer died Dec. 22, 2023 of N-desethyl-isotonitazene poisoning — a potent synthetic opioid — and suffered bilateral pneumonia. Following her investigation, she found the approaches to tackle drug use in schools are inconsistent across the board. While some schools are aware of the risks among teens and make naloxone kits available on site through the regional health authority, others have no established links with public health authorities. "Do they not feel concerned by the problem?" questions Gamache. She says "red flags" were raised concerning Mathis's drug use months leading up to his death and that detection might have led him to be referred to specialized front-line workers. "Mathis might also have been able to recognize signs of an overdose on the evening of December 21, 2023, and his death might have been possibly avoided," said Gamache. While she says it's not under her mandate to question schools' approaches to the prevention of opioid use, she reminded them of its importance as deaths from drug intoxication are on the rise across North America, including Quebec. Addressing the stigma that accompanies drug abuse, she said public health must continue its efforts to prevent drug dependency in school settings and offer life-saving tools. "All schools must also recognize the problem and its complexity if they are to participate fully in prevention efforts," she said. 'A societal responsibility,' says coroner Highlighting statistics from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, Gamache noted that 94 per cent of deaths from opioid use are accidents, "and therefore preventable." "It is also a societal responsibility to recognize that the prevention of opioid intoxication and other psychoactive substances concerns us all," said Gamache. "Mathis's death should be sounding the alarm because we can't wait for the accumulation of deaths among young people to make this observation." Boivin, who was previously healthy, had missed classes at his school the afternoon before his death to purchase between five and seven tablets of what he believed to be oxycodone, says Gamache. Although his parents knew he used cannabis, they had discussed the subject of hard drugs. Christian Boivin hopes the story of his son's death can help prevent more teen overdoses. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC) A few months before his death, a friend of Mathis contacted his father by text message, expressing his concerns about Mathis's hard drug use, but Mathis denied "having a problem." After dinner with his family on Dec. 21, Mathis played an online game with a friend and informed the friend that he had consumed one or more tablets, said the coroner. "He also said he felt itching on his body, like mosquito bites," said Gamache. "The friends parted ways by saying 'see you tomorrow.'" Mathis Boivin died after consuming on a synthetic opioid, thinking it was oxycodone. (Submitted by Christian Boivin) His father, Christian Boivin, found him the next morning and the 15-year-old was confirmed dead just before 9:30 a.m. at the Montreal Children's Hospital. Since his son's death, Boivin has spoken publicly in schools to spread awareness about the dangers of opioids. He said he hopes governments are more active and spend more money to prevent similar deaths. "Are we going to wait for other teens like Mathis to die every day?" he said, following the arrest of two suspects charged with trafficking offences in connection to his son's death. "It's too late for my son, but maybe we can save others."
CBC
30-01-2025
- Health
- CBC
Death of 15-year-old from synthetic opioid should be 'sounding the alarm,' says Quebec coroner
A Quebec coroner says the 2023 death of 15-year-old Mathis Boivin should be "sounding the alarm" on the importance of preventing opioid use and dependency among young people. Coroner Stéphanie Gamache found that the Montrealer died Dec. 22, 2023 of N-desethyl-isotonitazene poisoning — a potent synthetic opioid — and suffered bilateral pneumonia. Following her investigation, she found the approaches to tackle drug use in schools are inconsistent across the board. While some schools are aware of the risks among teens and make naloxone kits available on site through the regional health authority, others have no established links with public health authorities. "Do they not feel concerned by the problem?" questions Gamache. She says "red flags" were raised concerning Mathis's drug use months leading up to his death and that detection might have led him to be referred to specialized front-line workers. "Mathis might also have been able to recognize signs of an overdose on the evening of December 21, 2023, and his death might have been possibly avoided," said Gamache. While she says it's not under her mandate to question schools' approaches to the prevention of opioid use, she reminded them of its importance as deaths from drug intoxication are on the rise across North America, including Quebec. Addressing the stigma that accompanies drug abuse, she said public health must continue its efforts to prevent drug dependency in school settings and offer life-saving tools. "All schools must also recognize the problem and its complexity if they are to participate fully in prevention efforts," she said. 'A societal responsibility,' says coroner Highlighting statistics from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, Gamache noted that 94 per cent of deaths from opioid use are accidents, "and therefore preventable." "It is also a societal responsibility to recognize that the prevention of opioid intoxication and other psychoactive substances concerns us all," said Gamache. "Mathis's death should be sounding the alarm because we can't wait for the accumulation of deaths among young people to make this observation." Boivin, who was previously healthy, had missed classes at his school the afternoon before his death to purchase between five and seven tablets of what he believed to be oxycodone, says Gamache. Although his parents knew he used cannabis, they had discussed the subject of hard drugs. A few months before his death, a friend of Mathis contacted his father by text message, expressing his concerns about Mathis's hard drug use, but Mathis denied "having a problem." After dinner with his family on Dec. 21, Mathis played an online game with a friend and informed the friend that he had consumed one or more tablets, said the coroner. "He also said he felt itching on his body, like mosquito bites," said Gamache. "The friends parted ways by saying 'see you tomorrow.'" His father, Christian Boivin, found him the next morning and the 15-year-old was confirmed dead just before 9:30 a.m. at the Montreal Children's Hospital. Since his son's death, Boivin has spoken publicly in schools to spread awareness about the dangers of opioids. He said he hopes governments are more active and spend more money to prevent similar deaths. "Are we going to wait for other teens like Mathis to die every day?" he said, following the arrest of two suspects charged with trafficking offences in connection to his son's death.
