After Darius Ferris was sent a photo on Facebook of a crushed SUV, he had a gut feeling it was his vehicle and that his loved ones were involved in the fatal collision reported on Highway 11 in northern Ontario.
Ferris, a member of Constance Lake First Nation, said he and his wife had attended a funeral on Jan. 31 in Aroland First Nation with his wife’s brother, sister and sister’s partner.
Instead of driving home afterwards, Ferris and his wife decided to go to Thunder Bay and lent their SUV to their relatives.
“We just started getting concerned, more concerned by the hour,” Ferris said. “We hadn’t heard from them at all.”
The next morning, members of the Thunder Bay Police Service knocked on the door of Ferris’s hotel room and broke the news: all three of his family members had died.
“My wife was in shock. I was in shock,” Ferris said.
The collision on Highway 11 near Highway 631, west of Hearst, was reported to police around 6 p.m. on Jan. 31. It involved a passenger vehicle and a commercial motor vehicle, according to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in James Bay. The highway was closed for 22 hours.
Darrell (Jackboy) Taylor, 57, his 36-year-old sister, Raeanne Wesley, and Wesley’s partner, 37-year-old Aaron Paypompee, were pronounced dead.
An OPP spokesperson told CBC News the investigation remains ongoing and no charges have been laid at this point.
“Investigations of this nature are complex and can take months to complete,” Sgt. Martin Thibault of the OPP North East Region said in an email Thursday.
Traffic blocked off for laying of flowers
Taylor and Wesley were members of Constance Lake First Nation; Paypompee was a member of Whitefish Bay First Nation.
“My brother-in-law, he was the most loved man in the community,” Ferris said of Taylor. “He loved the bush and he liked working in the bush.
He described Taylor as a talented hunter, trapper and fisher who was mentoring his youngest son.
“He’s leaving a legacy for my son and my son misses him a lot,” Ferris said.
Wesley and Paypompee had just completed an addiction treatment program “and they were looking forward to building their lives together,” he said.
Earlier this week, the OPP blocked off traffic where the Jan. 31 collision occurred to allow Ferris and his wife time to place flowers where their loved ones died. They plan to put three crosses there in the spring.
“I know that Highway 11 and 11-17, the residents in this area or people that travel that highway are very concerned for their safety,” Ferris said.
“My wife and I, we never thought this would ever happen to us. We read about it, we hear about it, we see it on social media, but never once we thought that that would ever happen to our family.
“Now we see the profound effect and impact it has on people that [have] lost lives and loved ones because of accidents like this that could be avoided.”
‘These tragedies should never happen’
Highway safety is a longstanding issue in northern Ontario, and a recent string of collisions involving transport trucks in the area has prompted concerns from several community leaders.
The Jan. 31 collision marks the fifth one involving a transport truck in the region within a five-day period.
Just two days earlier, a 28-year-old woman, identified by Thunder City Speedway as Cheyenne Vaillant, died after her car collided with a transport truck on Highway 11-17 near Sistonens Corners.
A procession has been planned this Saturday from the race track to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 225 in Kakabeka Falls in her honour.
The fatalities have spurred calls to action from members of Ontario’s NDP in northern Ontario.
“My thoughts are with the family and loved ones affected by this tragic loss,” Mushkegowuk–James Bay MPP Guy Bourgouin said in a statement issued Monday following the Jan. 31 collision.
“Each fatality leaves our communities grieving and searching for answers. The 22-hour closure that followed is a stark reminder of how fragile our transportation network is in the north.
“Enough is enough. How many more lives will it take before this government starts showing up for the north?”
CBC News reached out to the Ministry of Transportation for comment and received an emailed statement on Thursday.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families and communities affected by these tragedies,” wrote Julia Caslin, a senior media relations adviser.
“Our government continues to take critical steps to improve road safety across our province, which includes investing nearly $600 million to build and repair northern highways, roads and bridges with over $350 million to improve safety and reliability along Highways 11, 17 and the 11/17 corridor specifically. OPP continue to investigate the collisions.”
Concerns over transport traffic, training
In Ferris’s view, more needs to be done to address the rise in transport truck traffic in the region. He questions the level of training received by new drivers, especially those who have moved from abroad and aren’t used to northern Ontario’s road conditions.
“The minister of transportation has got to pick up the slack and do something,” said Ferris.
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“Fixing the bridges is not going to solve these problems, fixing potholes is not going to solve these problems. What’s going to solve these problems is ensuring people’s safety on these highways.”
He also worries about future developments in the region that may bring more commercial vehicle traffic to the roads, such as mining plans in the Ring of Fire and the deep geological repository proposed for Canada’s nuclear waste.
“It’s dangerous enough already. Something needs to be done as soon as possible.”