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dorval mayor wants discussion on alcohol sale after inuit women's deaths
a quebec coroner has released the report examining the death of a person staying at the ullivik centre visitor who was struck by several vehicles while walking on the highway in an inebriated state.
jul 18 2024
5 minute read
mary-jane tulugak, left, 22, nellie niviaxie, 26, were fatally struck by vehicles on highways near the ullivik centre in dorval.
the mayor of dorval is calling for a “frank discussion” about the sale of alcohol in his west island municipality and decrying the provincial government’s absence from any dialogue on the problem of public intoxication since two inuit women staying at a provincially funded centre in dorval were fatally struck by vehicles while wandering on highways near the facility in 2022.
“i think we need to have a reflection with the various bars and the dépanneurs (selling alcohol) around the area and ultimately with the société des alcools du québec,” dorval mayor marc doret told the gazette this week in response to a second quebec coroner’s report concerning the death of a resident of the ullivik centre.
the centre houses nunavik residents while they’re in montreal to receive specialized health care.
“at the end of the day, everyone is responsible in part for the problem that we have,” doret said, adding that he’s looking to convene a meeting of stakeholders in september.
nellie niviaxie, 26, who had come to montreal from umiujaq as a companion to a family member requiring medical care that isn’t available in the north, was killed while walking in an intoxicated state along highway 20.
niviaxie was struck by a car shortly after 1 a.m. while walking along the median on aug. 20, 2022. her body was hit and dismembered by several other vehicles, the coroner writes. it was less than 24 hours after 22-year-old mary-jane tulugak, a mother of three, was fatally struck while travelling in her wheelchair on highway 520 after consuming alcohol while on medication.
niviaxie and tulugak died under similar circumstances , but their deaths were accidental and unconnected, coroner éric lépine has concluded.
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the coroner released his report on tulugak’s death in early july . the report on niviaxie’s death was sent to the gazette friday. the second report contains several of the recommendations lépine made in his report on tulugak’s death.
for example, lépine repeats calls for the ullivik centre to hire a social worker and for health authorities in northern quebec to warn residents about dangers before going to montreal. the coroner has also recommended that a local bar frequented by some ullivik centre residents, café bar dorval on dorval ave., work with the facility to prevent patrons from overconsuming alcohol.
niviaxie and tulugak had been at the bar, 1.6 kilometres from ullivik centre, at some point before they ventured onto a highway. niviaxie had been drinking alcohol with a friend in her room at ullivik centre before the pair left for the bar by taxi, the coroner notes. niviaxie left the bar alone after about half an hour and “seemed to have difficulty keeping her balance,” the report says.
however, doret and the bar’s owner, peter sergakis, told the gazette that the problem of people coming to harm while intoxicated is more complex than just cutting off a patron who has had too much to drink.
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“they’re drinking outside,” sergakis said. “they’re drinking before, and they’re drinking after they leave the bar.”
some people buy beer at the gas station dépanneur 60 metres from the bar and drink on the sidewalk and behind the gas station, he said. some also acquire alcohol from a nearby saq outlet and then sell it to others on the sidewalk, sergakis said.
when staff notice that, they call the police and public security, he added.
“yes, when they come in (to the bar), they drink too,” sergakis said.
“i’m not going to tell you that when they come in they drink milk. but our staff are trained, when they see that they (customers) have had enough, we don’t sell to them anymore. we try to convince them to take a taxi. sometimes the manager pays the taxi because the driver doesn’t want to take them. sometimes they’re aggressive.”
sergakis said he had read the first coroner’s report and will act on the recommendation that his bar and ullivik centre discuss strategies. in fact, after the gazette’s call, sergakis said he contacted a manager at the centre and got phone numbers for ullivik staff whom his bar employees can contact if they notice residents of the centre drinking outside.
the mayor confirmed the phenomenon described by sergakis, adding that sergakis “has been co-operating with us and our public security team.”
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doret said a small proportion of people who stay at ullivik centre are involved in public drinking. but the problem has an effect on the municipality, he said.
“where’s the government in this discussion?” he said.
“they’re nowhere to be found. we’re all kind of using band-aids to try to help out, but the people who are managing this, who have set up this system — well, they’re absent, completely absent from any discussion. and that’s the provincial government.”
doret pleaded for the province, through the local health and social services centre, to provide a safe space where dorval public security and the police can bring an intoxicated person.
“ullivik does not have the resources to manage a person who is unconscious or violent or aggressive,” he said.
“so where do they end up? they end up on our streets … they’re passed out on the street, behind bushes, in parks.”
police officers are “doing their best with the resources they have,” the mayor added. “the police stations on the west island are chronically understaffed.”
doret said he has met with the ullivik director and the city is adapting municipal services for people staying there, such as access to the municipal library and pool.
but other actors need to get involved, doret said.
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for example, the saq outlet on carson ave. near dorval ave. offers a large selection of smaller-format bottles of alcohol, he said.
“why is that? … is that model not counterintuitive to the problem that we have?”
laurianne tardif, a spokesperson for the saq, said the provincial crown corporation would be open to meeting with the city and other stakeholders, if asked.
“the saq is sensitive to the situation and is open to discussing with the various stakeholders involved,” she said in an email. in response to doret’s criticism of the smaller format bottles, tardif said the dorval outlet’s offering is “similar to several other branches of the network.”
responsible selling is a priority for the saq, she added. the saq has a procedure allowing an employee who’s suspicious of a transaction, either due to the customer’s frequent purchases or the quantity being purchased, to flag it to someone in the organization to take action, she said. the saq’s computer system can also detect such irregularities, she said.
“although our employees are trained in responsible selling, they do not replace the police authorities and they cannot refuse transactions based solely on impressions,” tardif said.
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ullivik centre didn’t respond to the gazette’s calls this week. the nunavik regional health and social services board said it would provide a declaration, but hadn’t as of the gazette’s publishing deadline.
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