Family members of a First Nations teenager who died in government care in January said they need answers to move on with their lives, but it may take some before they get them.
Chantelle Williams died in hospital on Jan. 28, 2025 after a passerby had found her around 5 a.m. not far from the Inside Out Care Corporation group home in Port Alberni where she was living. She was under care of the Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services, a delegated agency of the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
"She was way too young to die," Shannon Nookemus, Williams' aunt said while meeting with reporters in the provincial legislature. "We need some answers, so we can go with on with our lives." Nookemus was among several family members at the legislature seeking answers about the circumstances and cause of her death.
"They will not give me any answers," George Nookemus, Williams' grandfather said.
Conservative Amelia Boultbee, MLA for Penticton-Summerland and shadow minister for children and family development, said many basic questions about Williams' case remain open.
"We know that she was 18-years-old," Boultbee said. "She was living in this group home. She had gone to the hospital for what we believe was a very minor and treatable condition and then she was found unresponsive in winter conditions by herself, by a passerby."
Boultbee said Williams' case raises many questions.
"What was she doing outside?" Boultbee asked. "Was anyone was from the group home looking for her? Why was she found by a passer-by at five in the morning? We don't have any answers to any of those questions and the government has been uncommunicative with the family."
Both MCFD and the BC Coroners Service are investigating Williams' death but legislation prevents the public sharing of information. Boultbee said government is hiding behind that legislation.
"We are here because it has been 64 days since Chantelle died and we don't have any answers to basic questions," she said. "The family does not want confidentiality. Even if it is confidential, the family themselves should still be privy to that information and the family has no information."
Jodie Wickens, B.C.'s Minister for Children and Family Development, said her heart goes out to the family.
"It takes a lot of courage to come to this legislature and I'm very sorry for their loss," she said, adding publicly sharing any information is prohibited under the Child and Family Community Services Act.
Wickens said she expects a fast implementation of any recommendations, while promising to work closely with police, the coroners service and B.C.'s representative for children and youth.
"While families are waiting for answer 香蕉视频直播� I know that can be excruciating 香蕉视频直播� my ministry provides support services that includes paying for funerals, that includes counselling support where necessary, that includes food support."
Premier David Eby addressed the family directly during Question Period.
"I can assure you, and I assure all British Columbians, that this death will be investigated independently, and that you will get the answers that you need," he said. "There are not one, but two independent offices set up 香蕉视频直播� independent of us, independent of the minister, to get you the answers that you need and that you deserve."
Those offices would be BC Coroners Service and the B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth. Government sources later confirmed Eby's statement did not amount to him announcing another independent investigation.
B.C.'s Children and Youth Representative Jennifer Charlesworth said her office has already taken undertaken an "initial review" of Williams' case, but must wait for one year to allow for BCCS and the involved public bodies (such as MCFD) to complete their mandated reviews.
"If the BCCS and public bodies have not completed these reviews within one year of a child香蕉视频直播檚 death and there are no outstanding criminal investigations or court proceedings, then we may proceed to full investigation," she said. "In light of these provisions, we are not able to initiate a full investigation at this time, given that Chantelle just recently passed away."
Charlesworth, however, said that she will travel to Port Alberni this month to learn more about the broader circumstances in that community. While Williams was in the care of Usma Child and Family Services, the responsibility for the well-being of children extends to the health, education, justice and community care systems, Charlesworth said.
"Our aim is to learn more about the challenges facing the community, share patterns that we have discerned within our mandated work and explore ways to better wrap around and support young people who are struggling," she added.
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Boultbee said she hopes Charlesworth opens an investigation and called on government to step up the implementation of recommendations from Charlesworth's office designed to improve the child welfare system.
Wickens said government has been taking steps to transform that system.
"There is always more work to be done," she said. "We absolutely are putting emphasis on investing in very crucial and important services for children and families in this province," she said, pointing to additional funding and other measures. "It's a mandate across government."
Police are not investigating Williams' death and Black Press Media has reached out to BCCS for an update on its investigation.
