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Kevin Mamakwa
Kevin Mamakwa was a 27-year-old man from Kingfisher Lake First Nation who died by suicide on June 2, 2020 in the Thunder Bay District Jail. A coroner's inquest into his death concluded on June 11–12, 2026, finding the death was a suicide and issuing 22 recommendations to the Ministry of the Solicitor General. Witnesses and family described the jail — where there have been nine deaths since 2002 — as a "death trap."
Connected Scandals
Days after a coroner's inquest into the death of Kevin Mamakwa — a 27-year-old from Kingfisher Lake First Nation who died by suicide in the Thunder Bay District Jail — concluded with 22 recommendations and the jail being called a "death trap," Premier Doug Ford disparaged the province's own new ~$1.2-billion Thunder Bay Correctional Complex as a "fancy-dancey jail," comparing it to "the Four Seasons hotel" and refusing to commit to closing the century-old jail where nine people have died since 2002.
A 27-year-old man from Kingfisher Lake First Nation who died by suicide in the Thunder Bay District Jail on June 2, 2020. His death was the subject of the coroner's inquest that concluded in June 2026 with 22 recommendations, days before Ford called the new replacement facility a "fancy-dancey jail."