Some relatives of Raymond Silverfox, a Yukon First Nation man who died in RCMP cells, say they are ready to move on, while others remain angry with the way police treated him.

Raymond Silverfox, a 43-year-old member of the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, died on Dec. 2, 2008, after spending 13 hours in Whitehorse RCMP cells for public drunkenness.

A coroner's inquest last year heard that RCMP officers and detachment guards did not seek medical care for Silverfox during his 13 hours in custody, even though he was vomiting profusely.

Some officers and guards even mocked and jeered at Silverfox, the inquest heard. Silverfox was eventually dragged out of his cell and taken to hospital, where he died of acute pneumonia and sepsis several hours later.

On Thursday, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP said police officers and guards treated Silverfox with "callousness and open mockery" because they saw him as "just another drunk."

"I kind of think they used their uniform as a thing just to bully people," Dolores Landstrom, Silverfox's sister, told CBC News after the commission released its final report into Silverfox's death.

Basic decency absent: report

In its report, the commission said police officers must always be aware of the role public trust and confidence has in their success.

Cellblock video footage show Raymond Silverfox curled up on the floor of a Whitehorse RCMP cell, hours before he died on Dec. 2, 2008. The video was shown at a 2010 coroner's inquest into Silverfox's death. (RCMP)

"They must also maintain basic standards of human decency, even in the midst of difficult situations. In the case of Mr. Silverfox's tragic death, those standards were absent," the commission's report states in part.

The commission acknowledged that details of Silverfox's treatment in his final hours have created a "trust deficit" between the Yukon public and the RCMP.

"I don't think that the way he was treated in the jail cell should be repeated to anyone else again, because respect is respect — that's all there is to it," said Leita Blackjack, a relative of Silverfox and the deputy chief of the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation.

But Blackjack took a tentative first step towards mending that deficit on Thursday, when she publicly invited Yukon RCMP Chief Supt. Peter Clark to a healing circle at the Carmacks-based First Nation.

Clark accepted Blackjack's invitation.

Commission could be 'good advocate'

Meanwhile, in a unique move, the complaints commission announced that it will send one of its complaints officers to Yukon every two to three weeks to meet with people who have concerns about the conduct of RCMP members in the territory.

"I think this commission will become a good advocate amongst local people, community people, First Nations people," Blackjack said.

Eric Morris, Yukon vice-chief with the Assembly of First Nations, applauded the complaints commission for giving Yukoners ready access to a neutral third party.

"I think it's something that is needed, in terms of looking at how we avoid situations such as this," Morris said.

Commission officials said they are also looking at establishing local presences in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, which are policed by the RCMP.

Among its 17 recommendations, the commission's report on Silverfox's death said Whitehorse RCMP guards, officers and matrons should receive training on how to be respectful.

As well, the report called on the RCMP to further train its officers and detachment guards on how to deal with medical conditions that can arise from intoxication, as well as monitor how guards and officers respond to intoxicated people in custody.