Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick dies after collapsing outside Winnipeg court

September 6, 2024 Canuck

Cathy Merrick, the first female grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, has died after collapsing outside the law courts building in Winnipeg on Friday.

Merrick was speaking to media about a court case when she collapsed. She was given CPR before being rushed away in an ambulance.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said in a news release Friday afternoon he was deeply saddened to learn of Merrick’s passing.

Merrick, the former chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation (also known as Cross Lake) in northern Manitoba, was elected as Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs grand chief in October 2022, becoming the first woman to lead the advocacy group in its nearly 35-year history. She was re-elected to the post in July 2024.

On Friday, an emotional Merrick collapsed shortly after speaking to media about what she called “a gross miscarriage of justice” following the acquittal of a Manitoba corrections officer charged in the 2021 death of William Ahmo, a First Nations man who was an inmate at the Headingley Correctional Centre.

Merrick was speaking to reporters about a different case when she collapsed.

CBC reporters saw people performing first aid on Merrick.

Merrick had been front and centre in media coverage recently on several significant stories, including the trial and sentencing of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.

In 2022, he killed three First Nations women — Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — and an unidentified woman referred to as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, who is believed to have been Indigenous and in her 20s.

He was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder in July.

Merrick had also been a prominent voice in calling for a search for the remains of Harris and Myran. It’s believed their remains were taken to the Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, after they were killed.

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