The following joint letter was sent to Attorney General Doug Downey in response to the fatal shooting that occurred on July 31, 2025 at the youth centre on Wapekaka First Nation. The youth centre operates as a courthouse and the shooting occurred during court proceedings.
To Hon. Doug Downey,
We, the undersigned, are writing in response to the tragic, fatal, shooting that occurred during court proceedings held in the youth centre of the Wapekeka First Nation on July 31, 2025. We are urging the Ministry of the Attorney General and the government of Ontario to move quickly to improve safety in courtrooms across the province, including in northern and remote communities.
We send our condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Tyresse Roundsky, as well as to the people of the Wapekeka First Nation community. We are deeply concerned for all of our members who experienced the shooting, our justice system partners, judiciary, and members of the public who experienced this incident or have been impacted by it.
This tragic event exposed longstanding and serious deficiencies in security at courthouses across the province of Ontario. We believe that reasonable and appropriate security measures may have prevented this foreseeable tragedy.
While we appreciate that front entrance screening and a security presence at hearings will be initiated in all locations where the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are responsible for security, as outlined in David Corbett’s memo on August 8, this still leaves significant gaps in security. The August 8 memo commits to implementing these measures in only 71% of Ontario courts.
Appropriate security measures, including point-of-entry screening and weapons detection, are essential to protect everyone for whom the courthouse is a workplace, as well as accused persons, victims, witnesses, and members of the public. The need for these measures is particularly urgent in northern and remote communities, where inadequate facilities such as motels, schools, and community centres continue to be used as temporary courthouses. While access to justice must be provided to all communities throughout Ontario, more must be done to ensure that courthouses are safe for everyone who enters.
Immediate action is required to prevent further risks to the health and safety of courthouse staff, the judiciary, counsel, justice system participants, and the public. We urge you to move quickly to begin meaningful consultations with municipalities and First Nations and remote communities, and take action to ensure all court proceedings take place in proper, secure facilities with the resources to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Despite the role of municipalities and First Nations in carrying out security, the occupational safety of your employees is within the purview of the Ministry of the Attorney General, and we call on your office to ensure that your obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act are met. We ask that you keep justice system stakeholders up to date on your progress implementing the measures outlined in the August 8 memo.
In light of the very real and reasonable concerns for their safety, our members cannot be expected to work in any courthouse or building where an adequate safety plan is not in place. Under section 43(3) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, a worker may refuse to work or do particular work where he or she has reason to believe that (a) any equipment, machine, device or thing the worker is to use or operate is likely to endanger himself, herself, or another worker; (b) the physical condition of the workplace or part thereof is likely to endanger himself or herself; or (c) workplace violence is likely to endanger himself or herself. Our members will exercise their statutory right to refuse to do any work they have reason to believe is unsafe.
Only days after the tragedy in Wapekeka First Nation, our members were required to work in a makeshift courtroom set up in the basement of a motel in Ignace, which had no point-of-entry weapons screening.
The people of Ontario deserve better. Our members, who serve the people of Ontario every day, deserve better.
Sincerely,
Donna Kellway, President
Ontario Crown Attorneys’ Association
JP Hornick, President
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)
Rebecca Caron, President
Society of United Professionals
Photo credit: Flickr @aa440
