FAMILY OF MIRANDA MAMAKWA SEEKS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO NEGLIGENCE BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS LEADING TO HER DEATH
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Posted by Shelby Percival
- Posted in BlogsNewsUncategorized
Miranda Mamakwa’s family has sent a letter (through its counsel, Falconers LLP) to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Commissioner, Thomas Carrique, to formally seek a criminal investigation in respect of Miranda’s death.
Miranda, a member of Fort Severn First Nation, passed away on September 8, 2026, after Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) officials failed to arrange medical transportation from her remote community to multiple required follow-up appointments after her open-heart surgery. The family is calling on the OPP to investigate the individuals who failed Miranda Mamakwa for criminal negligence causing death.
“If I die, please go after them.” This was Miranda Mamakwa’s post to social media less than one month before her death. Her message was directed at the NIHB program, administered by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). NIHB is mandated to provide medical transportation services for First Nations and Inuit peoples who do not otherwise have insurance coverage for those services. Miranda relied on NIHB to arrange her transportation from Fort Severn to Thunder Bay for critical follow-up care.
Miranda’s family: her mother Eva Mamakwa, her father Mike Bluecoat, and her three children, ages 7, 9, and 11, are honouring Miranda’s call to action.
Miranda underwent open-heart surgery in Ottawa in April 2026. In the months following her surgery, the Fort Severn Nursing Station sent multiple requests to the Sioux Lookout NIHB office to arrange Miranda’s medical transportation, along with letters from Miranda’s treating physicians. Despite these requests, the public officials in the Sioux Lookout NIHB office failed to arrange Miranda’s medical transportation to five separate appointments, preventing Miranda from attending her required follow-ups and leading to her death.
The criminal justice system should only be invoked where grounds exist to believe a crime has been committed. Public officials are as accountable as anyone else in this country for reckless acts that endanger those in their charge. The wanton and reckless disregard shown for Miranda’s health, and ultimately her life, by those public officials responsible for arranging her medical transportation makes such an investigation a necessity.
Miranda’s parents, Eva Mamakwa and Mike Bluecoat, said:
“This should never have happened to Miranda. She should be alive today. We deserve to know how something like this happened, and we want the individual or individuals responsible for failing to respond to these urgent requests for transportation to be held accountable. They cost Miranda her life. They cost her children a future without their mother.”
Lawyer for the Mamakwa Family, Julian Falconer, stated:
“In this country, when a reckless disregard for the sanctity of life results in a death, the involved parties are investigated and, if reasonable and probable grounds so dictate, they are criminally charged and brought to trial. Time will tell if, in 2026, different rules apply in respect of an Indigenous loss of life.
We have created an apartheid system in this country as it relates to the delivery of medical services to Indigenous people. It must stop. Miranda’s three small children and her parents are victims of the reckless acts of public officials that led directly to her death. The Mamakwa family is entitled to the utmost consideration by Commissioner Carrique and the OPP in the conduct of a full and fair criminal investigation.”
ISC Minister, Mandy Gull-Masty, expressed her condolences and instructed an investigation into the facts that led to Miranda’s death. This is not enough. Miranda’s family and community deserve to know why her life slipped through the cracks and who will be held accountable.
Miranda’s family will not be making any further public comments at this time.
More information can be found by following the links below.
Supporting Documents
Press Advisory Miranda Mamakwa – Oct 30 2026
Background Summary of Key Events- Miranda Mamakwa – Oct 30 2026
Media
- Liam Casey and Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press (October 20, 2026) – “Mother of First Nation woman who couldn’t get medical transport and died seeks reform”.
- Canadian Healthcare Network (September 29, 2026) – “’Her family deserves answers’: Indigenous physicians call for inquiry after First Nations woman’s death”.
- Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (September 24, 2026) – “IPAC stands in solidarity with the family of Miranda Mamakwa, Fort Severn First Nation, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority and Nishnawbe Aski Nation”.
- Maya Ekman, NWO NewsWatch (September 14, 2026) – “Woman dies after saying NIHB failed to arrange travel”.
- Jesse Staniforth, APTN News (September 11, 2026) – “NAN blames Ottawa for death of Fort Severn First Nations woman”.
- Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority (September 10, 2026) – “JOINT STATEMENT: SLFNHA and NAN Demand Accountability in the Death of Miranda Mamakwa”.
- Sarah Law, CBC News (June 9, 2026) – “Grand Chief calls Non-Insured Health Benefits program ‘Canada’s worst insurance company’”.
