Yukon government facing two lawsuits over deaths at Whitehorse emergency shelter

Family members of two Indigenous women who died at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter are taking the Yukon government to court over allegations of systemic negligence. 

Myranda Tizya-Charlie, 34, and Darla Skookum, 54, died in separate incidents while they were guests at the shelter between 2022 and 2023.

The plaintiffs — Bella Tizya and Veronica Marie Burgess — each filed separate statements of claim to the Yukon Supreme Court on Dec. 23, 2024. 

Both lawsuits allege that the shelter repeatedly failed to be a safe place over the years due to a lack of proper policies and trained staff, resulting in fatal overdoses.

The Yukon government, who operated the shelter through its Department of Health and Social Services from 2019 to 2022, is named as the defendant in both statements. Burgess, Skookum's sister, is also suing Connective Support Society. The territorial government hired the B.C. non-profit organization to operate the shelter in October 2022.

"The defendants knew, or should have known, that the majority of the people accessing services at the shelter regularly engaged in substance use ... By inviting vulnerable persons  ... to take refuge at the shelter, both defendants owed those vulnerable persons a duty of care to make their stay at the shelter reasonably safe," one lawsuit read. 

The plaintiffs are asking for compensation on a number of grounds, including damages for grief and the loss of their loved ones, funeral and grief counselling expenses and more. 

Neither the Yukon government or Connective have filed a statement of defence yet. 

"The government of Yukon will consider those statements of claim carefully before responding to them through the court process," Drew MacNeil, with the Department of Justice, said in an email sent to CBC News. 

"The deaths of Myranda Tizya-Charlie and Darla Skookum were tragic losses. We know how deeply the families, friends and communities have [been] affected. The coroner's inquest that examined their deaths, along with the deaths of Cassandra Warville and Josephine Hager, resulted in a number of recommendations made by the jury to improve operations at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter, all of which have been accepted by the government of Yukon."

What happened? 

The lawsuits come eight months after a coroner's inquest looked at the deaths of four Indigenous women that happened at the shelter — Cassandra Warville, Josephine Elizabeth Hager as well as Tizya-Charlie and Skookum. 

A common theme throughout the inquest was an apparent lack of clear policy or adequate staff training to recognize signs of intoxication in order to ensure the safety of vulnerable guests. 

The lawsuits echoe testimonies heard and footage shown during the inquest. Both also emphasize on the absence of adequate policies and training. 

They speak of a pattern of systemic negligence, claiming that several guests have died at the shelter, "who would not have died had the shelter been adequately managed and operated."

It was revealed during the inquest that Tizya-Charlie overdosed in a shower room in January 2022 with Warville. The inquest heard that nobody working at the shelter checked on them for three and half hours.

At the time, the territorial government was in charge of operations. 

Tizya's statement of claim alleges that her daughter Tizya-Charlie's death was caused by the negligence of the Yukon government. It claims the government failed to provide adequate staff training, guidelines on how to manage the shelter safely, and to supervise guests. 

It claims that if shelter staff had checked on Tizya-Charlie more often or had administered naloxone, she would have survived. 

"A staff member handed a naloxone kit to a shelter guest because the staff member was not properly trained how to use it. The shelter guest was unable to prepare the syringes. The naloxone was not administered to the deceased," the lawsuit read. 

Meanwhile, the inquest had revealed that Skookum was found dead on April 2023 several hours after shelter staff placed her down on a mattress, unconscious and intoxicated, with her face directly in a pillow. 

Pathologist Dr. Elizabeth McKinnon testified that Skookum died from acute alcohol toxicity with contributions from cocaine and hydromorphone. She said Skookum's body position could have been a contributing factor. 

Burgess' lawsuit, however, alleges that Skookum could not breathe through the pillow and suffocated to death. 

"The deceased's death was caused by shelter staff failing to properly identify and/or not properly responding to the deceased's signs of severe intoxication or vulnerability, by placing the deceased face-first into a pillow when the deceased showed no — or in the alternative, almost no — signs of being conscious, which caused suffocation," the lawsuit read. 

The lawsuit alleges Skookum's death was caused by shelter staff, as well as the Yukon government and Connective's negligence in keeping guests safe. 

The lawyer representing Tiyza and Burgess declined to comment to CBC News for now. 

Nobody from Connective responded to CBC News before publication.