At an emotional news conference in Toronto on Monday, First Nations leaders didn’t hold back when it came to the unresolved deaths of Indigenous people in Thunder Bay.
They want the northwestern Ontario city’s police service disbanded and an outside police service to investigate unresolved deaths.
But it was the heart-wrenching stories of the families of loved ones who lost their lives — Mackenzie Moonias, 14, Jenna Ostberg, 21, and Corey Belesky, 31 — that drove home the need to get answers and accountability.
Mackenzie’s mom says she wants the loss of her daughter resolved. Ostberg’s parents say their daughter was a recent college graduate, artist and women’s advocate. Belesky’s mom described him as a loving, caring man.
The news conference at Queen’s Park was held days after Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) laid multiple criminal charges against the former police chief, former police service lawyer and a staff sergeant. But there’s a long history of …