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Mother of First Nation woman who couldn't get medical transport and died seeks reform
First Nation woman speaks out on daughter's death
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Eva Mamakwa (Mandatory Credit)
If only. It's a phrase that plays over and over again in Eva Mamakwa's mind.
If only her daughter, Miranda Mamakwa, had made it to at least one followup appointment after open-heart surgery, she may be alive.
If only Indigenous Services Canada's non-insured health benefits program had arranged travel for just one of her four missed appointments, Miranda may be alive.
The 31-year-old mother of three from Fort Severn First Nation died on Sept. 8, weeks after asking people on social media to seek action in case of her death.
"I don't want this to happen to anyone else," Eva Mamakwa said in an interview with The Canadian Press from her home before falling quiet, overcome with emotion. She is speaking out about her daughter's death for the first time.
Since Miranda Mamakwa's death, more than a dozen First Nations and tribal councils have filed a human rights complaint that alleges widespread neglect of their communities' health needs, while chiefs have demanded reform from the federal agency in charge of arranging medical travel for remote First Nation people.
Indigenous Services Canada said it's working to improve delivery of the service, while the minister in charge has said she requested a fact-finding mission on the circumstances that led to Miranda Mamakwa's death.
Months ago, Mamakwa's family was filled with hope as she underwent surgery at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in April to replace a valve in her heart. She recovered over two weeks at the hospital in Ottawa, then two more weeks at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
On May 24, she arrived home in Fort Severn First Nation, the most northerly community in Ontario that sits near the mouth of the Severn River on Hudson Bay.
Her doctors wanted to see her for several followups. She had blood clots and had been put on blood thinners, which required testing on an ongoing basis, Eva Mamakwa said. Doctors booked her daughter for an echocardiogram and an appointment with a vascular surgeon in Thunder Bay.
Miranda Mamakwa was thrilled to be back home; her children were excited and her mother was caring for her.
That excitement would soon abate.
Eva Mamakwa said she went to the First Nation's nursing station to begin the administrative process to arrange travel back to Thunder Bay for her daughter's first followup appointment. Nurses soon faxed Miranda's documentation to the non-insured health benefits program — faxes are protocol — and the family waited to hear back on travel plans.
She said the agency never responded and her daughter missed her first appointment on May 28. Eva Mamakwa then called NIHB's office in Sioux Lookout, Ont., and got someone on the line.
"I told her that it was extremely important that Miranda go to her followup appointments," she said. "I talked to her and she listened to me and she said they would send her travel, but travel never came."
She said the NIHB told her the request never arrived despite more than one tranche of faxes being sent.
The same thing occurred for followup appointments on June 11, July 2 and Aug. 6, Eva Mamakwa said, despite multiple faxes and phone calls.
"They didn't care at all," she said.
As the summer progressed, Miranda Mamakwa became more tired, slept more and started losing feeling in her fingers.
On Aug. 19, she wrote a Facebook post about the problems with NIHB and the missed appointments.
"If I die, pls go after (them)," she wrote.
On Sept. 6, she started to feel sick. Her stomach hurt and she began vomiting. "We just thought she might have caught the flu from her kids," her mother said.
But Eva Mamakwa soon realized that "something was terribly wrong."
Her daughter needed immediate help. Later that day, Skycare, which operates on behalf of provincial air and land ambulance Ornge, arrived, and airlifted her to the intensive care unit of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, some 850 kilometres away.
The next day, Eva Mamakwa and Mike Bluecoat, Miranda's father, got a call from the ICU doctor.
"He told me that Miranda had a lot of bleeding in her brain, she was hemorrhaging," she said. "Even if they send her down south (to Toronto), to try and help her, that she wouldn't have survived it."
The doctor told them to fly to Thunder Bay so they did, with Miranda's children in tow. Eva Mamakwa's oldest daughter was already at the hospital to support her sister.
They arrived to crushing news.
"There was no brain activity at all and we had to make a very difficult decision to take her off life support or not," Eva Mamakwa said through tears.
"As much as I wanted to keep her, it wouldn't have been a good idea because it was the machine that was helping her breathe," she said.
"It was very, very heartbreaking seeing my daughter being disconnected. But up until the end, when her heart stopped, and everything shut down, her children were beside her. All of us were beside her. And then we watched her go."
Eva Mamakwa's words failed, briefly, as tears rolled down her cheeks while she relived the nightmare.
"Today my daughter would be here if her travel was made to attend her appointments, but sadly it didn't happen," she said. "I am holding NIHB accountable for my daughter's passing."
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty has said her department would review the circumstances of the case, and that Mamakwa's community and family deserved answers.
WIDESPREAD ISSUES
The woman's death became a clarion call to First Nation leadership across Canada. It came after hundreds of people staged a sit-in at the NIHB office in Sioux Lookout over missed medical appointments, calling for urgent reform.
Chief Archie Wabasse of Wunnumin Lake First Nation, a remote fly-in community some 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay and 330 kilometres south of Fort Severn, broke into tears as he discussed the issue in a recent interview.
He said that in his community of 800 people, about 80 residents had a total of 147 missed medical appointments between March 2025 and March 2026 due to lack of transport.
There is no full-time doctor in the First Nation, but one rotates in for a week or two every month, for 12 to 14 visits a year. Demand for the doctor's time far exceeds availability, and those visits lead to referrals to specialists in southern parts of the province.
"The problem is getting worse for my people," an emotional Wabasse said.
He lists a number of community members who need help. One, with a pacemaker, who has already missed a few appointments. Another who needs dialysis in a few days, but has not heard back from NIHB about his travel. In one case, the band paid about $3,000 to send an elder to a specialist in Winnipeg after NIHB did not return calls, he said.
Wabasse said he met with the Indigenous Services minister to talk about the issue, months before Miranda Mamakwa's death.
He said Gull-Masty told the chiefs in attendance about improvements being made to NIHB, but she declined their request to sit down with them and resolve on the spot what he sees as a relatively straightforward administrative issue.
"It is a solvable problem, but what we're trying to do here is advocating, telling the minister, the decision makers, the prime minister, this could be solved in one day," Wabasse said.
When asked about Wabasse's description of that meeting with the minister, Indigenous Services Canada said regular dialogue with First Nations leaders about NIHB "has been an important part of our work to improve service levels."
HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINT
More than 12 First Nations and tribal councils filed a complaint on Oct. 1 with the Canadian Human Rights Commission against Indigenous Services Canada over what they say is effectively a denial of health care in their communities.
The joint complaint from Wunnumin Lake First Nation, Matawa Chiefs Council and Windigo First Nations Council alleges the federal department's non-insured health benefits program is failing to meet the needs of community members for medical transportation.
The NIHB program for First Nations and Inuit people covers medical, dental and mental health care not available through private insurance or provincial health plans. First Nations leaders and physicians have long said the program is not working for communities, and that its employees are notorious for being slow in responding to queries, requests and filing reimbursements.
The complainants say NIHB fails to consistently arrange medical transportation, or it informs patients so late about the transport that they are forced to miss their appointments.
They say Eabametoong First Nation community members miss about 50 appointments per month, while North Caribou First Nation members missed almost 100 appointments in the past year.
The complaint said First Nations have attempted to raise the issue with Indigenous Services Canada from as early as 2014, to no avail.
“Due to ISC’s actions, First Nations are suffering and dying. This is known to ISC, and yet nothing has been done to change it," the complaint said. “Years of NIHB failing to approve requests on a timely basis, considered in the context of costs associated with First Nation service-provision and remoteness, represents a choice to deny First Nations health care.”
The complainants are requesting a formal review and reform of the benefits program, along with $20,000 in compensation for each individual who missed an appointment due to NIHB's failures, and an additional $20,000 for pain and suffering.
“The continued failure regarding medical transportation is the newest chapter in a long history of Canada’s colonial practices devaluing the health and safety of Indigenous people," the complaint said.
Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Carolane Gratton said the department recognizes the serious impacts any gaps in service can have on people who rely on NIHB for medical transportation, and that it's working to strengthen the delivery of the service.
The department implemented a simplified travel submission process in early October, meant to provide clients with more direct support from local medical transportation co-ordinators and create a "more consistent and streamlined experience," Gratton wrote in an emailed statement. She said the department is looking into other actions that could improve call centre performance.
Indigenous Services Canada did not provide details when asked if there is a service standard for arranging medical transportation, nor how often that standard is met.
Gratton said the department takes seriously any complaints to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and that it would respond "through the appropriate process."
Julian Falconer, a longtime human rights lawyer who is representing the First Nations and tribal councils in the case, said their complaint is not about "simple negligence."
"We are talking recklessness when it comes to the sanctity of life," he said. "It's an outrage."
The government's response is a "perfect parallel" to what happened to Miranda Mamakwa after her surgery, he said.
"The ignoring continues to this day," Falconer said. "The minister promised an urgent review. We're six weeks out and it's crickets."
DOCTOR SAYS SYSTEM IS A 'BLACK HOLE'
Pediatrician and infectious disease specialist Anna Banerji, who travels to see patients in northern communities, said administration of the NIHB is discriminatory.
She said First Nations children, some of whom have serious health issues, are often no-shows for their appointments.
"Their flights were not booked," she said.
Lack of transport has also led to missed mammogram appointments, allowing cancers to spread, and high-risk pregnancy symptoms that aren’t caught early and lead to complications for mothers and babies, she said.
Banerji said when concerns have been raised to NIHB, it’s like a “black hole.”
"(Patients) don’t know if the flight is booked, or when it’s booked, and if you try to communicate with (NIHB) again, no one ever picks up the phone. They can send faxes, and no one responds to the faxes,” she said.
“At the last minute they’ll say, ‘You have a flight in an hour.’ Well, (patients) have other responsibilities. They have other children, they have elderly people at home, they have jobs and suddenly they have to drop everything they’re doing last minute to go on a flight. It’s just disrespectful."
Banerji said if the NIHB was any other system in Canada, it would be dismantled.
"My conclusion is, after 30 years of observing it, this is all racism. It’s a double standard. It’s discriminatory," she said.
"I would go so far as to say when you give one group of people certain rights and you deny that to another group based on race … it’s called apartheid.”
Banerji said Miranda Mamakwa's death was preventable, but not unpredictable, and called for a national inquiry into the system.
For Mamakwa's family, the past month has been difficult.
Her children, aged 7, 9 and 11, are struggling. Eva Mamakwa said her youngest grandson often says, "I want my mom back."
They trek to her grave to visit. They're just trying to get through the days.
"My grandson, he wakes up early in the morning and he cries and in the evenings, that's when it gets really hard for all of us," Eva Mamakwa said, choking up.
"I cry every day. There are times I get extremely angry. What happened with our daughter? I miss her. I miss talking to her."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2026.
By Liam Casey and Alessia Passafiume | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Carney says Alberta's choice of unity is 'a great result' for Canada
PM says 'great result' in Alberta
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Prime Minister Mark Carney says it was "a great result for Canada" when Albertans chose unity in a referendum on Monday.
Carney says he spoke to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith about the results this morning.
In the historic referendum, voters chose in overwhelming numbers to remain in the country that made Alberta a province 121 years ago.
In early returns, about three-quarters of Albertans said yes to Confederation, while one-quarter said they wanted the province to hold a second, binding referendum on leaving.
Carney says he and Smith also talked about additional support for people affected by the tragic fire at CFB Wainwright in Alberta before turning to the referendum results.
He told reporters they discussed moving forward in the spirit of co-operative federalism, including on the issue of immigration.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2026.
— With files from Jack Farrell in Edmonton
By Jim Bronskill | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Le tunnel L.-H.-La Fontaine 100 % fermé dans une direction ce week-end : Voici quoi savoir
Si tu dois traverser le fleuve, mieux vaut prévoir un plan B.
Réfection majeure du tunnel Louis-H.-La Fontaine | Facebook
À peine remis des entraves de l'Action de grâce, les automobilistes qui circulent entre Montréal et la Rive-Sud devront encore s'armer de patience. Le tunnel Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine sera complètement fermé dans un sens pendant toute une fin de semaine, et partiellement de nuit dans l'autre.
À lire également : Long week-end de l'Action de grâce : Le tunnel Louis-H.-La Fontaine fermé à 100 % d'un côté
Cette fois, c'est la direction de Montréal qui écope. Le ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (MTMD) a annoncé par communiqué ce lundi 19 octobre que l'autoroute 25, tunnel compris, sera fermée vers l'île durant la fin de semaine du vendredi 23 octobre.
Le chantier vise à effectuer de l'entretien et des interventions sur les systèmes électriques et de communication du tunnel. Les équipes en profiteront pour réparer des composantes abîmées lors d'incidents et d'accrochages survenus au cours de la dernière année.
Du vendredi 23 octobre à 22 h jusqu'au lundi 26 octobre à 5 h, l'autoroute 25 en direction nord sera entièrement fermée, tunnel inclus.
Le tronçon touché s'étend de la sortie no 90 (autoroute 20 ouest, route 132, La Prairie, États-Unis, Varennes, aéroport P.-E.-Trudeau) jusqu'à l'entrée en provenance de la rue Sherbrooke.
Les entrées de ce secteur fermeront 30 minutes avant le début de l'entrave. La bretelle d'accès qui vient de l'avenue Souligny en direction est restera toutefois accessible pendant la journée.
Des fermetures de nuit vers la Rive-Sud
Si tu dois te rendre dans le 450, la circulation sera possible le jour, mais pas la nuit. L'autoroute 25 en direction de la Rive-Sud, tunnel compris, sera fermée entre la sortie no 4 (centre-ville de Montréal, pont Jacques-Cartier) et l'entrée de l'île Charron selon l'horaire suivant :
- De vendredi 22 h à samedi 8 h
- De samedi 22 h à dimanche 9 h
- De dimanche 22 h à lundi 5 h
Ici aussi, les entrées du tronçon fermeront 30 minutes plus tôt. Même chose pour l'avenue Souligny en direction est, entre les rues Dickson et Honoré-Beaugrand.
Une inspection forcera également la fermeture de l'avenue Souligny en direction ouest dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi, de 22 h à 8 h.
Le secteur fermé se trouve entre la rue Honoré-Beaugrand et la sortie no 4 de l'autoroute 25 en direction sud.
Pour traverser le fleuve, les ponts Jacques-Cartier et Samuel-De Champlain demeurent les options les plus évidentes, mais attends-toi à ce qu'ils soient plus achalandés qu'à l'habitude.
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Tony Romo Proved He’s The Best Sports Commentator Last Night With His Hilarious 'Rocky' Quotes
If you're familiar with the Dallas Cowboys, then you're familiar with Tony Romo, it's just that simple. The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback has taken up several hobbies since his days on the field, including sports commentating! After lots of practice, "Tony Romo" and "sports commentator" have become something you can often hear in the same sentence and he was hitting an ultimate high last night.
Fans had a lot of good things to say about Romo's commentating skills last night, especially with him throwing in the enthusiastic Rocky reference.
We'll get to that later.
It's not uncommon to see former NFL players on the other side of the sports world once their career on the field comes to an end, but it is worth celebrating when they end up being great at it.
When you're as big of a legend as Romo is, you certainly have the upper hand.
Twitter user CoachTeixeira tweeted "Tony romo with the greatest commentary of all time!"
They followed up their claim with a line that Romo used during his commentary of the Texan game. "'It’s like watching Rocky when he’s getting punched over and over, he’s not losing he’s getting mad!'”
If there's an easy way to win people's hearts when it comes to commentating, it's quoting one of the greatest movies ever made.
Certainly, other factors play a role, such as voice, tone, and overall knowledge of the sport that's being broadcast.
Sports fans are a tough crowd to please, so sometimes even that isn't enough!
Twitter user aubreyybadger tweeted "Me listening to any other commentator vs. me listening to Tony Romo," with a hilarious dog meme below it.
The dog is clearly upset in the first photo, and blissful in the second.
Now that Romo has gotten such a great reaction from fans, his current free agent status may be changing very soon.
Rumors have it that ESPN is preparing a massive offer for Romo to leave CBS as an analyst and become the lead analyst for ESPN's "Monday Night Football."
It'd be silly for him to turn it down, so it's just a matter of time before he's back in the big leagues!
Like @DavidWysong_ tweeted above, "Every game is 100 times better when Tony Romo is commentating it."
You've got that right!