Reconciliation is not dead, but Indigenous Peoples are still dying in Canada’s hospitals – The Hill Times
February 23, 2026
The risk of concurrent racism faced by Indigenous peoples in hospitals today is criminal. Regulatory colleges need to fix it immediately.
OTTAWA—On Jan. 9 in Saskatoon, Trevor Dubois died after an altercation with security at the Royal University Hospital. Dubois was receiving chemotherapy, and a security guard thought he had an imitation gun and so Dubois was restrained to the point of unconsciousness. He died. The 36-year-old was from Muskoday First Nation. His friends talked about his infectious laugh, and his advocacy for the LGBTQ2S+ community.
Leonard Sylvester, of the Penelakut First Nation, went into the Cowichan District Hospital in Duncan, B.C., for a routine procedure, and died less than three weeks later. It is alleged that the gallstone surgery also nicked his liver, leading to his death on Nov. 20, 2025. The family received no communication through it all, and they named racism as a factor in Sylvester’s treatment and the lack of communication.
