'We have hope but we need help': La Loche community leaders speak out 1 year after deadly shootings

A community leader from La Loche, Sask., says the community is still healing from, and working through, the trauma of fatal shootings that took place nearly a year ago.

We're not looking for a handout; we're just looking for a hand up.- Leonard Montgrand, executive director of the La Loche Friendship Centre

On Jan. 22, 2016, brothers Drayden, 13, and Dayne Fontaine, 17, were shot and killed in a house in the northern Saskatchewan village. Soon after, teacher's assistant Marie Janvier, 21, and teacher Adam Wood, 35, were killed at La Loche Community School, where several other people were injured.

A 17-year-old boy from the community pleaded guilty in October to two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree murder, as well as seven counts of attempted murder.

• Teen charged in deadly La Loche shootings pleads guilty
• La Loche staff and students return to school where shootings took place

Speaking Monday in La Loche, Leonard Montgrand, executive director of the La Loche Friendship Centre, said the community has made it past the first phase of recovering from the incident, but the problems lie in long-term strategic planning.

He said help is needed to develop and implement a plan centred on four areas of improvement as outlined by the village's mayor: Housing, education, health and infrastructure.

​"We're not looking for a handout; we're just looking for a hand up," Montgrand said.

He added he wasn't going to sugarcoat anything: There are social issues in the community. 

"La Loche has always been the last to receive services; always been at road's end," he said. "And people in the community have accepted it because it's been that way.

"We're human beings. We don't deserve to live in these conditions." 

La Loche Mayor Robert St. Pierre echoed those sentiments, saying those seeking victims' services in his community often have to go a city centre like Saskatoon — which is six hours away — travel back, fill out a form and wait three or so months for reimbursement. 

St. Pierre said that is just not feasible for many people in the community, which suffers from a high unemployment rate.

Community feels abandoned, says principal

When people returned to La Loche Community School in the fall, the entrance was still boarded up. A partition around the office was removed in December, but for the most part things were left as they were in the summer.

We were left on our own to make it through the year.- Greg Hatch, principal of La Loche Community School

The school's principal, Greg Hatch, said the community feels as if it has been abandoned. He described feelings of anger and frustration.

Hatch said attendance has dropped since the shooting, and in some cases grades have suffered as well. 

"We have students who are happy to come to school every day," Hatch said, but added that they and staff are still struggling with the aftermath of the shootings.

"We were left on our own to make it through the year."

Columbine principal reaches out

The former principal of Columbine High School, the U.S. site of one of the most notorious school shootings in history, spoke to students and staff in La Loche on Monday.

"We had the support that was much different," said Frank DeAngelis in an interview with CBC News. 

"So, if someone needed to see a counsellor, we had five or six counsellors in our building each and every day that teachers can go to or a phone call. They could drive five minutes to get the help. That's not happening here." 

Hatch said he questions why similar resources haven't been made available to help with the healing and aftermath of the shooting in La Loche.

"We have hope but we need help."

Day of observation

A commemoration will be held later this month, serving as a day of observance for the four people who were killed.

The 17-year-old teen who pleaded guilty has yet to be sentenced, and can't be named due to provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

A hearing to determine whether the teen will be sentenced as an adult has been set for May and June. Psychological and psychiatric reports will be presented at the hearing.