More than 80 people packed into a room in Duncan’s Cowichan Community Centre on Dec. 8, gathering in grief, anger and solidarity to support the family of Leonard Sylvester III.
Sylvester a 38-year-old member of the region’s Penelakut First Nation died following what his widow describes as a cascade of medical failures at Cowichan District Hospital and Victoria General Hospital.
The event brought together grieving family members, Indigenous leaders, health advocates and representatives from the medical system involved in Leonard’s care. Speakers addressed the room and, at times, spoke directly to Island Health representatives to demand answers, openness and systemic change, while community members gathered to support the family.
In a written statement read aloud to those in attendance, Leonard’s wife Boedaya Sylvester called for accountability from Island Health. Leonard’s body was transported to Vancouver for an autopsy later that day, after what the family described as days of delay and uncertainty.
“This is not just my grief,” Boedaya wrote. “This is a human rights issue.”
A routine procedure that turned fatal
Boedaya and Leonard Sylvester had been married just one week when he underwent an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), a procedure used to remove gallstones, on Nov. 1.
After returning home to Penelakut Island, Leonard experienced severe back pain on Nov. 12, requiring a call to 911.
He was taken to Cowichan District Hospital, where, according to Boedaya’s statement, he remained in severe pain for several hours as tests were conducted and his condition worsened. She said he was initially given only over-the-counter pain medication, which provided no relief, and that effective pain control was not provided for nearly six hours after his arrival.
Leonard was later transferred to Victoria General Hospital, where he was placed in intensive care, put on life support and ultimately suffered multi-organ failure. He died on Nov. 20.
Boedaya said she was given inconsistent and delayed information about his condition and received no Indigenous liaison support in Victoria until the final half-hour of his life.
“This absence is another form of harm,” Boedaya wrote.
She also said she experienced confusion and distress after his death, including uncertainty for days about whether an autopsy would be conducted and where her husband’s body was located.
“All I want is the truth,” she wrote. “All I want is accountability for my husband.”
Island Health response
Marko Peljhan, Island Health’s vice-president of acute clinical operations and provincial programs, addressed the gathering, offering an apology and a pledge.
“We commit to doing better, and I am so sorry,” Peljhan said.
He also told the family and members of the community: “Every day of my life, for the rest of my life, I commit to making this better.”
Also present were Garrett Elliott, director with Central Island Indigenous Health Services for Island Health, and Dr. Graham Blackburn, medical director at Cowichan District Hospital.
‘This is not new for our people’
Several speakers said Leonard’s death reflects broader, long-standing failures in the health-care system affecting Indigenous patients. That broader concern is supported by national research. A 2024 national systematic review found that discriminatory attitudes, dismissive care and systemic barriers were common in Indigenous health-care experiences.
Connie Paul, a relative of the family and a registered nurse with decades of experience in community and hospital care, framed Leonard’s death as part of a broader pattern of systemic failure affecting Indigenous patients.
“This is not new for our people,” she said.
Paul also pointed to the absence of an Indigenous liaison within the B.C. Coroners Service, calling it a critical gap that must change.
“We just want answers for the family and the community,” she said. “And above that, we want to see policy change.”
Multiple speakers referenced the 2020 B.C. Ministry of Health report In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care, which documented widespread anti-Indigenous racism in the provincial health-care system.
Others shared their own experiences of being ignored, dismissed or receiving delayed or inadequate treatment, reinforcing that Leonard’s case was not isolated.
Several speakers described the prolonged delay in being able to bring Leonard home as a violation of deeply held cultural practices surrounding death and ceremony, saying the family was prevented from carrying out their customary mourning and burial rites within the expected cultural timeframe.
The emotional weight of the gathering was underscored by both grief and anger. Katisha Paul, a relative of the family and youth representative for the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, spoke directly to questions of accountability.
“The system failed us. Again.”
Tears flowed openly as speakers described repeated patterns of harm. At other moments, speakers addressed Island Health representatives directly. One attendee challenged them to move beyond public statements, saying the community had heard similar commitments before and that words without action were not enough.
A call for action
In her statement, Boedaya said she is demanding an independent investigation, accountability from Island Health, full transparency around all medical decisions and complications, a mandatory autopsy, and systemic change to better protect First Nations patients.
“This is systemic racism in health care,” she wrote. “I will bring my husband home — but not before I get answers.”
While the gathering was marked by intense grief and anger, it was also defined by presence. Leaders stood shoulder to shoulder with family and community, pledging support for the family.
As one speaker told Boedaya, “You do not walk alone.”