Final day of Lafontaine death inquest highlights lack of community resources

On the final day of an inquest into the death of Nicole Lafontaine, jurors heard from YWCA staff who spoke to factors which may have contributed to the 31-year-old woman falling from a 5th storey window.

Lafontaine was seen experiencing what several witnesses referred to as psychosis before the woman attempted to climb out of her window. Lafontaine's roommate said “it seemed like [Lafontaine] thought she saw someone out there,” when recalling the scene.

Staff of the YWCA expressed that while many of their clients struggle with mental health issues, they are not a mental health facility. Due to a lack of community resources, the role of the YWCA has been blurred as they reach to fill gaps in the system which they are not properly equipped for.

"We are not mental health professionals, that's not our role yet it seems to be something that we're being forced into doing because there is such a lack of resources in the community," said April Markus, assistant director of shelter for the YWCA.

"We often find ourselves biting off more than we can chew. And we have to step back, there's been so many instances and we've had to do that. I think in many ways, we walk the line, we get really close to it and that doesn't feel good," Melissa Coomber-Bendtson, CEO for YWCA Regina said.

One person in the room who had additional questions for each witness was Nicole's mother Valerie Lafontaine. Valerie has been actively calling for more to be done following the death of her daughter since the incident occurred over a year ago.

"She was beautiful, she had a good heart on her, a really special young woman, she loved her babies, she likes being artistic, she really had a lot of loves," Valerie said.

Throughout the inquest, Valerie was accompanied by an urn with Nicole's ashes and photos of her daughter.

Valerie Lafontaine had previously lost another daughter, Andrea, who was staying at the YWCA when she experienced a drug overdose on Christmas morning in 2022.

Andrea Lafontaine (left) and her sister Nicole (right) died seven months apart. (Photo courtesy of Valerie Lafontaine)

A frequent topic of Valerie's questions was the YWCA's rules around drug use by clients. The YWCA is not a safe consumption site and does not allow drug use within their facilities. However, staff explained that this rule is difficult to enforce, as many of their clients struggle with addiction.

"I just hope that no more people die at the Y and no other families have to go through this," Lafontaine said.

When asked what staff are supposed to do if they come across a client using drugs on site, Cora Gerari, senior director of women's housing for the YWCA replied, "My idea is that they should have a conversation with them."

Gerari cited the statistics surrounding missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls as the reason why the YWCA does not kick out women caught using drugs on the premises.

"It does no good to put people out on the street where they would have less resources and less support," Markus said in her testimony.

Valerie additionally questioned witnesses on the lack of action when it came to Nicole's mental state in the hours leading up to her death.

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The inquest's conclusion 

The format of an inquest differs from a trial in many ways, mainly the role of the jury. The jury is not tasked with establishing fault, but rather coming up with recommendations to prevent incidents like this from happening again. It is also the job of the jury to determine Lafontaine's cause of death.

The jury determined the manner of death to be an accident, and made the following recommendations for each party:

YWCA

• Clients to provide personal information and agree to rules of conduct on intake form
• Manager review of intake forms
• Provide each client with guidelines and emergency procedures and emergency service contact information
• Check windows and room conditions upon intake
• Work towards zero tolerance for use on resident floors
• Addition of safe consumption site in separate area
• Mental health support workers on site 24/7
• Mobile services made available on site once a week
• Increase access to holistic wellness through an on site elder during regular business hours
• Alternative medicines as can be provided
• Training in bi-weekly team meetings in vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, mental health first aid
• Critical incident debriefing for staff
• Review supports and protocols
• Addition of cultural supports and grief councillors on site

Saskatchewan Health Authority

• Nurse practitioner on site
• Provide funding for 24/7 services
• Wellness checks
• Complete referrals
• Prescribe medications
• Research active street drugs and educate staff on how to support clients
• Notify community agencies of active drugs on the street

Government of Saskatchewan

• Change in legislation in terms of homelessness and what it means to be houseless

Coroner's recommendation:

The SHA, YWCA, and Sask. Housing Authority recognize that the YWCA is contracted to supply beds and a meal but in reality is expected to supply much more and take the following steps:

• Make resources available to increase training of staff at the YWCA to deal with mental health issues and addiction issues
• Increase staff at the YWCA to include trained councillors, nurse practitioner, and pharmaceutical support
• Have other community service providers present at the YWCA

Following the conclusion of the inquest, Valerie Lafontaine expressed that she was happy with the recommendations made.