Family of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation woman killed last year seeks answers after manslaughter charge stayed
Charge against Phillip Soulier in death of Noreen Tait was stayed in November
The family of a slain woman from O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation wants answers about her death after a manslaughter charge against a man accused in her death was stayed.
Noreen Tait, 47, was assaulted on Feb. 19 last year in the northern Manitoba community, also called South Indian Lake. She was taken to Winnipeg with life-threatening injuries and died in hospital two days later, RCMP said.
Mounties charged Phillip Soulier, 50, with manslaughter in March, but the family found out in late November that the charge had been stayed, Tait's older sister Arla Tait-Linklater said Monday at a news conference at the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Winnipeg office on Ellice Avenue.
A spokesperson for Manitoba's courts confirmed the charge against Soulier was stayed Nov. 29.
"This has reopened the wounds of our loss and has left us in a state of shock and disbelief," Tait-Linklater said.
"How are we supposed to be able to grieve?"
The family wants RCMP and the justice system to hold anyone responsible for her sister's death accountable, Tait-Linklater said.
They're also urging the public to come forward with any information about Tait's death.
"Noreen was much more than just a statistic," she said. "We will not rest until the truth is revealed."
There are no other suspects in Tait's death, and the charge that was laid was previously approved by the Crown, an RCMP spokesperson said Monday.
RCMP investigation 'flawed,' sister says
In an email to CBC News, a provincial government spokesperson said that "given the Crown's burden of proof and in light of the extended period of opportunity and the presence of others during the time period, the Crown directed a stay of proceedings because the evidence was insufficient to prove this accused had the exclusive opportunity to commit the unlawful act in question."
But both Tait-Linklater and Brandy Tait, Noreen Tait's daughter, said they believe the RCMP investigation wasn't done properly, citing the time it took to investigate the home where Tait was killed and how long it took for Mounties to have her transported to the hospital in Winnipeg.
"[The] flawed investigational process and resources in this case is indeed grave and unacceptable," Tait-Linklater said.
"No family should have to endure the pain and retraumatization and suffering that we've experienced."
The RCMP spokesperson said Mounties do not do "inter-facility medical transfers" and "did not have any involvement in the transfer of Noreen Tait to the hospital in Winnipeg."
Officers secured the home where Tait was assaulted "within the hour" and took her to the community nursing station within 15 minutes of receiving a report of an injured woman, the spokesperson added in an email.
Although there is a local RCMP detachment in the community, O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation Chief Shirley Ducharme said there is still a lot of violence in the area.
She said the community needs more resources and services to help those struggling with addictions.
"We all realize in the northern communities … there has been a lot of intergenerational trauma that hasn't been really fully serviced," she said at the news conference.
"They haven't done the true healing that needs to be done."
More thorough investigations also need be to be done throughout northern communities, Ducharme added.
"I think many times in our northern communities that there's been people that we have lost and have been murdered but … nothing's been finalized."
'The right thing to do'
Tait, a mother of two daughters and a grandmother of five, was "a vibrant, loving and caring person who touched many lives," Tait-Linklater said.
She loved to laugh, smile and sing her favourite song, Travelin' Soldier by the Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks.
"She loved her grandchildren, she loved me and my sister. She loved singing and we all carry on her music," Brandy Tait said.
Tait-Linklater said she thinks there are people in the community who have information that could shed light on Noreen's death, but haven't yet.
"We're from a small community, and people talk to other people," she said.
It's something Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said tends to happen in northern communities.
"A lot of times that cases that are brought forth are not being able to move forward because of the lack of participation of people that are involved," said Merrick.
"The right thing to do is to come forth."
MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said governments need to make sure to implement the 231 calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
"It is alarming today that we continue to see women and girls being harmed and being victimized," he said.
Brandy also wants to see an end to violence against Indigenous women and girls.
"Families cannot do this alone. Noreen deserves justice. The person responsible for her murder does not deserve to walk free," she said.
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