Delores Stevenson holds a photo of family member Nadine Machiskinic
It took nearly a year and a half for the coroner’s report into the death of a Regina aboriginal woman to be completed, however the findings will not be made public.
The coroner’s office and police will meet with the family of Nadine Machiskinic next week to discuss the report.
Machiskinic fell ten floors to her death down the laundry chute of the Delta hotel in downtown Regina hotel in January of 2015.
Police have ruled out foul play, but say their investigation is continuing. The long delay in completing the report was raised in the legislature on Thursday by the NDP’s Nicole Sarauer.
“For the family, the pain and suffering has been dragged out ever since she was found last January,” she said. “For nearly 18 months, Nadine’s family has waited for a coroner’s report from the province. Eighteen months they have spent waiting.”
Justice minister Gordon Wyant says the problem is getting toxicology reports done. He says that is where the system is getting bogged down.
“This is all about the receipt of the toxicology reports, the coroner’s work cannot be done, nor can the work be done in terms of the investigation at the ministry until those reports are in,” he said. “We have talked to the coroner’s office and we will continue to investigate the reasons for the delays in the preparation of those reports.”
Nadine Machiskinic’s aunt Delores Stevenson is relieved the coroner’s report is finally done. She is hoping it provides some answers. She was also gratified to learn her concerns were raised in the Saskatchewan legislature.
The death of the 29-year-old woman is also the subject of a lawsuit. The family is suing the owners of the Delta, claiming negligence.
In its statement of defense, the hotel says Machiskinic was the author of her own fate and was in a restricted area of the hotel when she somehow got into the laundry chute on the tenth floor. None of the allegations have been proven in court.