For aboriginal kids from reserves in northern Ontario, a high school diploma is a ticket to a better future. But a shocking number of these students have ended up dead before graduation.

the fifth estate's Gillian Findlay presents an extremely up-close and personal look inside the native secondary education program in Thunder Bay, Ont., where seven students have tragically died in the past ten years. Five of the victims died apparent alcohol related deaths -- their bodies were pulled from local rivers amid swirling suspicions and rumours about what pushed them over the edge. Another two teens suffered troubling and unexpected deaths that have left lingering questions.

Filmed by a local crew with close connections to the community, with unprecedented access, the fifth estate takes viewers inside the school halls, the homes where the kids are billeted, the mall where they hang out, and onto the dark streets where their dedicated teachers and mentors run nightly patrols in a desperate bid to try and get them all home safe.

In the fall of 2008, the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth contacted the Regional Multicultural Youth Council in Thunder Bay to gather local youth including students at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School together to provide input into the Reggie Bushie inquest. Reggie Bushie, from Poplar Hill First Nation, went missing on October 26, 2007. His body was recovered by police divers from the McIntyre river on November 1, 2007. The youth provided feedback to understand the circumstances surrounding the death of Reggie Bushie and what could be done to prevent similar tragedies.

Read the document (PDF 1.55MB)

Reggie Bushie, 15, was a Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School student. Bushie, from Poplar Hill First Nation, was found in the McIntyre River on November 1, 2007. An inquest was scheduled to begin in January 2009. The inquest was delayed after Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), a political body that represents 49 First Nations, and Bushie's family questioned how the coroner's jury was selected. There were no First Nations people on the jury. Dr. David Eden, presiding coroner at the Reggie Bushie inquest, ruled on September 9, 2011 that the jury roll was not representative. He suspended the inquest.

Now, NAN is asking for a commission of inquiry to look at the circumstances surrounding all seven youth who died while attending school in Thunder Bay.

Read Dr. David Eden's ruling (PDF 112KB)