Métis family in Lac La Biche hopes inquiry will answer questions in sons 2019 death

It has been more than five years since Sylvia Quintal saw her son Frank Whitford alive for the last time. It was in the morning of Nov. 9, the day before he died. The Métis mother from Lac La Biche, Alta., 200 km northeast of Edmonton is now hoping an upcoming fatality inquiry will give her family some answers into how he died after being taken into RCMP custody. “Earlier that day, I asked him to run an errand for me before he had to work,” Quintal told APTN News. After work that day, Quintal says Whitford was hanging out with his best friend and drank “quite a bit” and became very intoxicated. “Frank wasn’t a frequent drinker, but he got into an argument with his girlfriend.” Quintal said Frank’s friend told her that he fell a “few times” and hit his head. At one point, the friend could no longer get him up and Quintal said peace officers arrived and Whitford was arrested for public intoxication. According to documents released after the pre-fatality-inquiry conference March 18, he was arrested at a KFC in Lac Lac Biche shortly before 4 p.m. “Whitford had been having difficulty standing and walking prior to this arrest,” the document said. “EMS had also attended at the KFC and told the peace officers Whitford was safe to take into custody.” Once at the detachment, RCMP officers “transported Whitford to the holding cells in a wheelchair at around 4:05 p.m. Whitford was conscious and giggling at this time,” according to the document. Quintal claims an RCMP officer said he should be taken to the hospital. The report goes on to say that about four and a half hours later, around 9:40 p.m., a guard called RCMP members for assistance. “Whitford had turned blue and was non-responsive. Officers applied an AED to Whitford and his colour returned to normal. EMS arrived at about 9:57 PM and transported him to the Lac La Biche hospital. Whitford was later transferred to the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton, where he passed away at about 6:35 p.m., Nov. 10, 2019.” The report said that blood samples taken at about 11 p.m. showed that Whitford’s blood alcohol concentration was 4.03 g/L, or 5 times the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle. His manner of death was ruled to be “accidental,” and the cause from “multi system organ failure due to resuscitate cardiac arrest and acute ethanol intoxication.” Quintal said Frank’s death came at a time when her family was just starting to recover from losing Frank’s older brother five years prior. She says it was because of a drunk driving accident. “Frank was hesitant to drink because of what happened to his brother,” Quintal said. “I hate to pull the racial card, but I have to. They looked at my son as just another drunk Indian kid. Frank worked from when he was 12 years old, he was a high school graduate, he had a job, he had no criminal record, and he was accepted to college.” Quintal believes if her son had been taken directly to the hospital, instead of police cells, he would still be alive. His death took away a dream that her family had of running a business. “The plan was to open a beauty shop on one side, my daughter was going to school for hair. I have accounting, so I was brushing up on my accounting and Frank was going to run a marijuana store,” Quintal says. The family considered a lawsuit, but ran out of time when they couldn’t find legal representation. “I would like to be able to get justice for my son. I would like an apology, which I’ll probably never get,” Quintal said. “And, we don’t really want money, we’d like an apology, and their job. It’s not fair that those guys get to live a nice, good life with their wives and families, and we don’t have Frank.” The fatality inquiry will explore whether Whitford received adequate or appropriate medical attention while in the custody of law enforcement. It is set to take place April 30 to May 2, in the Lac La Biche Court of Justice. Continue Reading