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Brydon Lafaver says security staff at Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert threw him into a wheelchair after he received treatment, wheeled him outside and left him in the snow injured, disoriented and with nowhere to go.
On Monday, Lafaver sat with families and First Nations leaders in Saskatoon as the health ombudsperson’s office created by First Nations said the provincial government’s recently announced independent review into hospital security practices doesn’t go far enough.
Video footage of the December incident, previously reported by CBC News, showed three hospital security officers pushing Lafaver outside the hospital’s doors. The footage later shows him lying in a snowbank, alone.
“I was very violently escorted out of the hospital by security and basically thrown in the snow,” Lafaver said in an interview with CBC News on Monday.
A screenshot of a video posted on social media on Thursday, Dec. 11. CBC has blurred part of the photo to avoid identification. It shows three security guards escorting a man off of Prince Albert Victoria Hospital property on Dec. 11, 2025. (Facebook)
“It was like a nightmare,” he said. “It just really hurt and I’m paranoid to even go back to the hospital or be treated.”
The Saskatchewan Health Authority later banned the guards involved and launched an investigation.
“I was highly intoxicated, but I wasn’t being physically violent, or verbally, and had a broken foot too, and just nowhere to go,” Lafaver said.
In a statement, the SHA said it has completed its review of the incident and determined the actions of the contracted security officers involved did not meet its standards or align with its values.
Part of a larger trend
The First Nations Health Ombudsperson’s Office (FNHOO) said Lafaver’s case is one of more than 20 serious complaints it’s currently handling involving SHA protective services staff and First Nations patients.
Saskatchewan’s First Nations Health Ombudsperson Dianne Lafond says her office is dealing with more than 20 serious complaints involving hospital security and First Nations patients. (Aishwarya Dudha/CBC News)
“You should not go to the hospital and come out worse — or come out injured, traumatized, or left in the cold,” First Nations Health Ombudsperson Dianne Lafond said at a news conference in Saskatoon.
Since opening in July 2023, the FNHOO says it has received more than 547 complaints from First Nations people navigating Saskatchewan’s health-care system, many of which involve alleged mistreatment, racism or abuse of power.
Lafond said those cases point to a “clear and troubling pattern.”
Napoleon Derange, 59, also spoke with media on Monday. He said he’s spent months in hospital and is relearning how to walk after what he called a violent encounter with hospital security.
Now in a wheelchair, he said he’s living with pain and fears he may never return to the work and activities he once loved, like hunting, fishing and trapping.
“It’s not too good to do that to the people,” he said quietly. “We’re all human, we’re all the same people, living together in Canada.”
Province launches review into hospital security
Last week, Saskatchewan’s Health Ministry ordered an independent, third-party review of hospital safety and security policies in the wake of the death of Trevor Dubois.
Dubois, 36, died earlier this month after a physical altercation with security at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, where he was receiving cancer treatment.
Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill and Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) CEO Andrew Will also announced the rollout of metal detectors in emergency departments in Saskatoon, Regina and other cities, after a pilot project last fall.
Lafond said it’s not enough. She wants an inquiry with meaningful First Nations involvement, including engagement with her office, arguing that the province’s review does not guarantee the level of Indigenous oversight families are asking for.
In a statement, the health ministry said it’s considering options for an independent organization or individual capable of conducting a review.
“The Government of Saskatchewan feels it is important to engage in this work as quickly as possible, so one of the key elements in selecting an independent third party is capacity to undertake this work as soon as possible,” it said.
Dubois open complaint file
Lafond also revealed on Monday that Dubois had an open complaint with her office before his death, related to previous treatment he received in the health-care system in September.
“He wanted change. He didn’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Lafond said.
“This has to stop. People deserve to feel safe when they go to the hospital.”