Shannon Sargent’s death in jail ruled a homicide

Good morning,

It’s been a tough week in journalism. Bell is cutting a huge chunk of its media division as they look to consolidate brands and streamline operations.

Talk of brands, consolidation, and streamlining makes the job seem like such a bloodless task. But it’s a task that requires the on-the-ground feel of real people getting out in the community. Centralizing operations in the name of efficiency and profit, or just to stay afloat after years of decay, is taking a terrible toll on news in Ottawa and across the country.

While we’re working on building up to something more, the Lookout right now is a digest of all the good work journalists throughout this city are doing. What we do here wouldn’t be possible without them. Unfortunately, highly profitable corporations can’t be counted on to bring this community — any community — the basics of what’s going on around us.

At this point, I could ask you to sign up for a membership to help us to keep building up. But that feels too much like capitalizing on the sorrow of too many hard-working people out of work this week.

Instead, this is just a lament in the dying days of local news. Nothing good comes from weeks like this, and there are no doubt more like it ahead. Hopefully we can build something together that is focused on community, and not profit.

Let’s get to it.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

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CORONER’S INQUEST

Shannon Sargent’s death ruled a homicide

What happened: A jury at a coroner’s inquest ruled Shannon Sargent’s death was a homicide, CBC reported. Sargent died in a jail cell in 2016, only a few weeks after open heart surgery. A guard picked up paperwork from the Civic hospital without bringing the ill woman into the ER for an assessment. She died hours later.

• The jury’s verdict is not a criminal one, nor does it carry legal liability, but it could lead to the opening of a new homicide investigation.

At the inquest: A lawyer for Sargent’s family had asked the jury to find her death a homicide based on “omission of care.” Documents at the inquest said Sargent “looked very unwell,” was suffering from a possible C. difficile infection, and had abnormal blood pressure and heart rate readings, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

The day of: Sargent had been arrested for simple possession of drugs. Earlier in the day, July 19, 2016, the 34-year-old was cleared by the ER at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus to be taken to jail. But by the time she reached the jail she appeared unwell. She was then transported back to the hospital, but corrections officer Paul McPherson went into the ER to fetch her discharge documents, leaving Sargent in the transport van.

• “Shannon would have been triaged when she was transported to The Ottawa Hospital, had she been presented as triaged. That is indisputable. This should have happened.… And arising from that indisputable fact are more questions: What could have happened to Shannon had she been triaged at the hospital during that second transport?” inquest lawyer Kate Forget said to the jurors before their decision.

Family reaction: “Shauna [Shannon’s daughter] had so many questions and couldn't understand why something like this could happen to her mom,” the family’s lawyer, Christa Big Canoe told CBC after the verdict. “And so the finding of homicide…I think that was a type of validation.”

Recommendations: The inquest jury made 37 recommendations, including providing an independent advocate at jails to protect inmates’ interests; more training for officers doing medical escorts; preserving surveillance footage after an incident; and giving inmates prompt medical assessments when they arrive at the jail, CBC reported.

OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

🎰 $1.48 billion: The revenue legal gambling generated in Ontario in the first year of legalization. [The Canadian Press]

🚮 85%: The percentage of households who already set out three or fewer items per garbage day, and will be unaffected by the new limit passed by council. The three-item limit goes into effect next year. [City of Ottawa]

🚒 113: The number of people in Ontario who died in residential fires last year, prompting the province to declare Sept. 28 Test Your Smoke Alarm Day. [CBC]

SENATORS

Mayor once again suggests non-Lebreton downtown arena locations

What happened: Mayor Mark Sutcliffe once again suggested a new Senators arena should go somewhere downtown other than LeBreton Flats, CTV reported. Without suggesting any specifics, the mayor said a new arena would be a new attraction to the core.

• “Is there an opportunity to put a new arena in downtown Ottawa that would attract people and become a new destination? … I'm talking about right downtown, LeBreton flats is close to downtown, but it's not right downtown,” Sutcliffe said, according to CTV.

Other possibilities: In March, CBC laid out some possible other locations, including Bayview Yards, the National Defence headquarters building near the Rideau Centre, and the baseball stadium on Coventry Road. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has also previously mused about other sites for an arena, CBC reported.

What about Kanata? Around the site of the current arena, the Canadian Tire Centre, some nearby businesses worry what the loss of events at the arena will mean for the future, CBC reported.

The Lookout’s thoughts: While LeBreton is not yet a thriving community, it is quite the stretch to consider the location not downtown. While there are other theoretical locations more central to the city, all of them are strictly a pipe dream. National Defence headquarters, for example, is still the site of much of National Defence headquarters.

• LeBreton meanwhile is still a site of urban desolation. Unless this is a pressure tactic to push the NCC into giving in to some of the city’s, and the team’s as-yet-unknown demands for a new arena, perhaps the mayor should devise some concrete plan before floating alternatives

THE AGENDA

🔺 Ontario hospital workers will get a raise after the province’s bill capping healthcare wage increases to one percent per year was declared unconstitutional. An arbitrator awarded an additional 3.75 percent to their wages this year, and 2.5 percent last year. [The Canadian Press]

🚑 The city’s emergency preparedness committee approved a plan to hire 40 new paramedics yearly for the next three years. The committee also voted to hire 14 new paramedics as soon as possible this year using the city’s reserve fund. The plan rises to the full council for a vote June 28. [City of Ottawa]

💨 Poor air quality is expected to continue today as smoke from Quebec fires drifts over the city. The heat and humidity are also contributing to the haze. [CTV]

🪧 Seventeen-hundred Quebec casino workers went on strike for higher wages, including the workers at Casino Lac Leamy. The strike was launched to coincide with the Grand Prix weekend in Montreal. Casinos will remain open but with limited services. [CBC]

🗳️ Outside observers expect the federal government’s tentative deal with PSAC workers will pass easily. Voting on the new contract ends today. [Ottawa Citizen]

🚋 The city is kicking out a historic Ottawa Streetcar from an OC Transpo garage just as the 20-year restoration project nears completion. The city is trying to find the restoration group a temporary home to keep the streetcar while the group looks for a new permanent location. [CTV]

🦺 Orléans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas will present a motion at council to halt the construction on the Orléans Boulevard overpass until a new design is in place. Dudas said the current design will cause too many traffic back-ups as buses unload at the new Convent Glen LRT station. [CBC]

🏥 A woman who had to wait six months for breast cancer surgery believes the extensive delay led to a worse prognosis and the need for a second surgery. [Ottawa Citizen]

🚧 This is the last weekend of LRT maintenance, with sections of the line remaining closed on a rotating basis until Monday. [CBC]

🗞️ Bell is cutting 1,300 positions, with the biggest cuts coming in its media division. The company said it “couldn’t afford” to continue to operate its news organization at such a large size. Several on-air hosts on TSN 1200 were among the cuts. Last year, the company made a $771-million profit. Much of the broadcaster’s international bureaus were closed, and many of its national correspondents were laid off. [The Canadian Press]

🚨 A Gatineau gymnastics coach will be off the job indefinitely after a report of his “inappropriate” behaviour, some of which described as “psychological violence” was leaked to the media. [CBC]

EVENTS

Music

🎤 Afroman Live, Saturday 7 pm: You know his 2000 song Because I Got High, now see the man himself live at the Brass Monkey, 250 Greenbank Rd. Tickets start at $52.

🎸 Honeymoon Suite Live in The Joint, Saturday 8:30 pm: This classic band is back together, playing all their 80s hits! Ticket includes $10 free play. At the Rideau Carleton Casino, 4837 Albion Rd. Tickets $46.

Sports

🥊 The Fight Night, Saturday 6:30 pm: A night of amateur boxing with up-and-coming talent from Ontario and Quebec. At Beaver Boxing Club, 145 Spruce St. Tickets $28, no sales at the door.

Food

🏳️‍🌈 Zak’s Drag Brunch - Pride Edition, Saturday 1:30 pm: Hosted by Sunshine Glitterchild and Saltina Shaker, the fourth edition of this popular brunch is nearly sold out. Includes performances by Vera and Genesis. At Zak’s Diner Elgin, 220 Elgin St. Tickets $23.

Kids/Family

👔 Father’s Day Fun, 11 am: Head on out to Carlingwood Mall and get your photo taken with your favourite superheroes with dad, with a free professional digital photo. YOu can craft a personalized keychain as a special memory. At 2121 Carling Ave., near entrance 5. Free!

General

🕺 Rhythm & Red Dance & Dine Gala, Friday 7 pm: A night of dinner and dancing, all to support the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Cash bar. At Saint Elias Banquet Centre, 750 Ridgewood Ave. Tickets $100.

Market

👗 613Flea, Saturday 10 am: As many as 150 vendors with everything from vinyl records to vintage clothing, and everything in between. At the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park. Free admission.

Culture

🇮🇪 Bloomsday with Mary Walsh and Friends, Friday 7 pm: Hosted by the James Joyce Association of Ottawa, come for a reading of Ulysses by the legendary Mary Walsh in celebration of Bloomsday. At St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, 310 Saint Patrick St. Tickets $44.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Herbie Hancock, Feist, and more headline this year’s Ottawa Jazz Festival. [Ottawa Citizen]

• Heads up! Dive-bombing red-winged blackbirds are keeping mail carriers away from three homes on Echo Drive. [CBC]

• This panorama really shows the return of the smoke haze to the city. [Reddit]

• Congrats to the folks at CTV Ottawa, who won the Radio Television Digital News Association award for best newscast for their derecho coverage last year. [CTV]

• Want to have your announcement featured? Contact our partnership team for more info.

TOP PHOTO

So it’s not exactly a local photo, but with Orcas in the news lately, we couldn’t help but share this photo from reader Pat Hagerup, who saw them on the west coast near Haida Gwaii two years ago.

Do you have a photo you’d like to share with the Lookout community? Send it in!

OTTAWA GAMES

It seems this week’s Ottawa Guesser was too tough. No one wrote in with the correct answer that it was a photo of Osgoode Main Street. Maybe next time!

Do you think you can get this week’s Ottawa Wordle? Play now!

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