Tragic Collision Claims Three Lives in Northern Ontario

After Darius Ferris received a photo on Facebook showing a mangled SUV, he had a sinking feeling that it was his vehicle and that his family members were involved in the deadly crash reported on Highway 11 in northern Ontario.

Ferris, who belongs to Constance Lake First Nation, shared that he and his wife attended a funeral on January 31 in Aroland First Nation along with his wife’s brother, sister, and sister’s partner.

Instead of heading home afterwards, they chose to go to Thunder Bay and let their relatives use their SUV.

“We just started getting concerned, more concerned by the hour,” Ferris mentioned. “We hadn’t heard from them at all.”

The following morning, officers from the Thunder Bay Police Service knocked on the door of Ferris’s hotel room to deliver heartbreaking news: all three of his family members had died.

“My wife was in shock. I was in shock,” Ferris recalled.

The incident on Highway 11 near Highway 631, west of Hearst, was reported to police around 6 p. m. on January 31. It involved a passenger vehicle and a commercial truck, as stated by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in James Bay. The highway remained closed for 22 hours.

Darrell (Jackboy) Taylor, age 57; his sister Raeanne Wesley, age 36; and Wesley’s partner Aaron Paypompee, age 37; were declared dead at the scene.

An OPP spokesperson informed that the investigation is still ongoing and no charges have been filed yet.

“Investigations of this nature are complex and can take months to complete,” said Sgt. Martin Thibault of the OPP North East Region in an email sent Thursday.

Traffic Stopped for Memorial Flowers

Taylor and Wesley were both part of Constance Lake First Nation while Paypompee belonged to Whitefish Bay First Nation.

“My brother-in-law was the most loved man in the community,” Ferris said about Taylor. “He loved being outdoors and enjoyed working in nature.”

He described Taylor as an excellent hunter, trapper, and fisherman who was teaching his youngest son how to carry on these skills.
An orange ribbon along with three flower vases can be seen at the site where the fatal crash occurred on Highway 11 west of Hearst. Darius Ferris expressed gratitude to OPP for stopping traffic so he and his wife could hold a brief vigil there. (Submitted by Darius Ferris)

“He’s leaving behind a legacy for my son who misses him dearly,” Ferris noted.

Wesley and Paypompee had recently finished an addiction treatment program “and they were looking forward to building their lives together,” he added.

This past week, OPP blocked off traffic at the location where the January 31 collision happened so Ferris and his wife could place flowers where their loved ones lost their lives. They plan to erect three crosses there come springtime.

“I know that residents or travelers using Highway 11 or Highway 17 are very worried about their safety,” said Ferris.

“My wife and I never thought this would happen to us. We read about these tragedies online or hear about them but never imagined it would touch our family.”

“These Tragedies Should Never Happen”

 

The issue of highway safety has long been a concern in northern Ontario, especially given recent accidents involving transport trucks which have alarmed several local leaders.

The January 31 accident marks five incidents involving transport trucks within just five days.
A mere two days prior, Cheyenne Vaillant-a woman aged just twenty-eight-lost her life after her car collided with a transport truck on Highway 11-17 near Sistonens Corners.
A procession is set for this Saturday from Thunder City Speedway to Royal Canadian Legion Branch 225 in Kakabeka Falls honoring her memory. 

The recent fatalities have led members of Ontario’s NDP representing northern regions to call for action.
Mushkegowuk-James Bay MPP Guy Bourgouin expressed sympathy for those impacted by this tragic loss shortly after hearing about the January 31 collision:

“Each fatality leaves our communities grieving and searching for answers,” Bourgouin stated via press release Monday following news about what happened last week.”The closure lasting 22 hours serves as a harsh reminder regarding how fragile our transportation network is up north.”

“Enough is enough! How many more lives will it take before this government starts paying attention?”

The Ministry Of Transportation responded when contacted by providing an emailed statement Thursday:

“Our deepest condolences go out toward families/communities affected through these tragedies,” Julia Caslin-a senior media relations adviser-wrote back saying:”We’re continuously taking critical steps aimed towards improving road safety throughout our province which includes investing nearly $600 million into constructing/repairing highways & bridges across Northern areas specifically allocating over $350 million focused primarily improving reliability along Highways Eleven Seventeen Corridor” & “OPPs continue investigating collisions.”

Raising Concerns About Transport Traffic And Training

Darius views addressing rising amounts freight vehicles traveling regionally needs urgent attention. He questions adequacy training provided new drivers-especially those newly immigrated unfamiliar with challenging conditions common found throughout Northern Ontarios roads!</P
<!—->
<!—-></td></tr></tbody></table><![endif]–>

“Transportation Minister must step up ensure measures put place” asserted Darius.
Watching “Truckload Trouble”:Trucking forms backbone Canadian economy yet as country faces shortage drivers shocking details emerge revealing unqualified recruits slipping onto roads!/a>”.<! DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.window[‘request Animation Frame’] = function() { return Math. random(); };

(function(e, t, n){e._w=e._w||[];(function(){var o=t. create Element(‘script’); o. type=’text/javascript’; o. async=true; o. src=n; e. head. append Child(o);})()}(window. document,’body’,’https://widgets. nytimes. com/app/widgets/articles. js’));});’. join(“”); //<input type=text value=.. "<input value=false name=y Hmgf Rk id=my-input-placeholder data-id=0 data-url=http://www. jsearch. org/index. php" ')); return request Animation Frame(function() { var e=document. get Element By Id('my-input-placeholder'); if (! e) { throw new Error('DOM not ready!'); } // Place interactive elements inside elements }; $("“). append To(‘. js-journalist’); console. log(“tags events:”, data); if (data. length==0 && j Query(“. no-results”). length==0){ $(‘body’). prepend(“

Error – No results found!

“); }else{ $(“. no-results”). remove(); } }, }); } ); “”” ?>$(document). ready(function() { $(“#news_article_feed”). on(“click”, “. post”, function() { $(this). toggle Class(“active”); $(this). siblings(). remove Class(“active”); var post_id = $(this). data(“id”); $. ajax({ url: ‘/news/get_post/’ + post_id, method: ‘GET’, success: function(data) { $(“#post_content”). html(data); } }); }); });

Source link