Woman dies at White Birch Remand Centre in Regina

Foul play is not suspected after a woman died while in custody at the White Birch Remand Centre early Thursday morning.

“(Thursday) morning at about 8:00 a remanded female at the White Birch Unit here in Regina went into distress,” said Drew Wilby, executive director of corporate affairs for the Ministry of Justice “Staff at the facility performed CPR on this individual and unfortunately the individual passed away about a half an hour later.”

The ministry has contacted the woman’s family, but out of respect to family they are not releasing her name at this time.

So far there is no indication of foul play, but Wilby says the Regina Police Service is investigating the circumstances of her death. The Ministry of Justice is automatically required to launch an internal investigation and by law the case will also be the subject of a full coroner’s inquest.

Wilby said policies regarding the frequency of cell checks are specific to different facilities.

“The internal investigation will look at all those details around that and make sure policy and procedure was followed, we’re very confident that was the case,” Wilby explained.

This is the first fatality at the White Birch Remand Centre since it opened in a refurbished wing of the Paul Dojack Youth Centre in March 2014. It is primarily a remand centre with space to house up to 18 women who are waiting for court dates.