Prior to being found lying on the ground, the subject of an online video was evicted from Prince Albert's Victoria Hospital. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Public safety

Prince Albert agencies say online video of man lying in the snow shows need for community supports

Dec 15, 2025 | 5:07 PM

Editor’s note: this story was updated on Tuesday, Dec. 16 to include comments from Prince Albert Grand Council.

While the investigation continues into an online video that shows a man found lying face down in the snow near Prince Albert’s Victoria Hospital, the incident has also sparked a conversation related to balancing public safety and providing supports for people in need.

According to information provided last week by the police service, the intoxicated man had been evicted from the hospital. This was supported in the days following by people who reached out to paNOW and who were present at the hospital when the incident unfolded. They said the man was being both disruptive and abusive in the emergency room, and security members stepped in after the man started “destroying the place.”

He was then taken outside where the temperature was -25 C. What happened next, however, and how he came to be lying on the ground remains unanswered. Those questions are part of a review by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

According to a statement on Monday from the police service, when dealing with an intoxicated person, officers will check with all available resources in the community to try to find them a safe place.

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“We only arrest for intoxication in public if the person is a risk to themselves or others and there is no other safe place or responsible person available to care for them,” they said.

Police added when it comes to someone who is in need of mental health support, they can, in certain cases, apprehend an individual under the Mental Health Services Act. The act can be applied if the individual is posing a risk to themselves or others and at that point an officer takes the individual to the hospital until they can be seen by a doctor.

YWCA CEO Donna Brooks confirmed for paNOW there are situations where their clients do fall through the cracks. Due to their sobriety and disruptive behaviour, neither the hospital nor the shelters are suitable options.

“I am thinking that is where a complex needs facility would help. Not cells, not the hospital but a place where they can be safely detained,” she said.

Provincial staff responsible for the project have indicated a goal to have the building operational by March 31 of next year.

Acknowledging the racially charged comments that have shown up online, and the laying of blame, Brooks encouraged people to hold off on judgment and to let the investigation run its course. But if fault is found, Brooks wants justice served.

“If they did indeed do that, they need to be held accountable,” she said.

One of the online commenters was Métis Nation Saskatchewan Western Region II Director Sherry McLennan, who confirmed she knew the man who was “dumped there to freeze.”

“I am in no way blaming the hospital. I am concerned he could of froze and died. He’s the same age as my kid. I do know he has lived a life full of trauma,” she explained.

McLennan added she would like answers as to when police were called, where the man was taken after he was placed in the wheelchair, and whether, in fact, he was dumped in the snow and left there.

“Duty of care by everyone is first and foremost,” she said. “Why wasn’t someone or next of kin called to come get him?”

Response from Indigenous leaders

Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) is calling for answers and accountability from Victoria Hospital and the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

According to a statement provided by the organization on Tuesday, the footage has raised serious questions about patient safety, institutional responsibility and the duty of care owed to people seeking medical assistance.

Noting the PAGC represents 12 First Nations in northern Saskatchewan, the statement goes on to explain their members regularly rely on Victoria Hospital for emergency and acute care. PAGC also maintains a working partnership with the hospital and the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte said the circumstances shown in the videos are deeply troubling and should never occur in a health-care setting.

“This should not happen in a hospital,” said Grand Chief Hardlotte. “When someone seeks medical care, their safety must come first. That responsibility does not disappear because a situation is difficult or because security becomes involved.”

Hardlotte said the incident highlights the need for closer scrutiny of how decisions are made when hospital security and police are involved, particularly during extreme weather conditions. He said it is essential to examine how responsibility is transferred once a patient is removed from care and whether safeguards are in place to prevent people from being placed at risk.

“For years, I have advocated for the inclusion of First Nations voices within this hospital and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), urging the development of a genuine partnership that addresses the specific needs of First Nations and northern regions,” PAGC Vice-Chief Joseph Tsannie said. “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Health Calls to Action (Calls 18-24) clearly outline this need. Regrettably, both the hospital and the Health Region continue to operate under the assumption that they know what is best for First Nations, perpetuating a colonial system that affects our community members. I call for an immediate cessation of this tokenism. It is essential that the SHA and the Health Region engage with us in the spirit of reconciliation. We request that our people’s rights, dignity, and autonomy be fully acknowledged and upheld. Indigenous rights are human rights.”

Grand Chief Hardlotte expects the Saskatchewan Health Authority to assess whether security staff acted appropriately and whether changes are required, concerns senior PAGC officials will raise directly with SHA leadership later this week.

Over the weekend the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Executive released a similar statement, and called for the security personnel captured in the video to be immediately terminated and investigated for their actions.

There was, however, no indication they had talked to anyone involved or had based their statement on anything more than the contents of the short online videos.

“The terrible treatment our First Nations people are put through is horrific,” said Chief Bobby Cameron. “If that video had not been taken, chances are this man would have died due to the cold weather temperatures. We are talking about what appears to be a deliberate act that could have resulted in a death, and it’s another example that First Nation people, and their lives, are simply not valued equally in our healthcare system. This is not care; this is cruelty dressed in uniforms and policies. Racism kills. There are addictions in our communities; the way the security guards handled it was inhumane and cruel.”

The FSIN’s statement claimed this incident reflects a broader, devastating pattern of discrimination that First Nation peoples face across Saskatchewan and Canada.

“From being ignored in emergency rooms, to receiving substandard care, to facing racial slurs and assumptions from healthcare workers, First Nations individuals navigate a system that too often views them with suspicion, contempt, and indifference rather than compassion.”

paNOW attempted to contact the FSIN for further comment, but did not receive a response.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell