Suicides in Labrador West: Grieving mother says her son faced inhumane treatment

The mother of a Labrador man who took his life recently is blaming what she calls inhumane and racist treatment from his co-workers at the iron ore mine in Labrador City for his suicide.

• Work environment contributedto suicides, says union leader

Lorne Winters, 36, died nearly four months ago following what his mother says was atumultuous work experience with the Iron Ore Co. of Canada.

He's one of five people health officials say have killed themselves in Labrador West over the past eight months, with a union official saying four of the five either worked for or had worked for IOC.

News of the suicide in the mining towns of Labrador City and Wabush surfaced in the House of Assembly in St. John's on Thursday, and that's what promptedElizabeth Rice to share her story.

"I felt, 'I'm not alone,'" Rice told CBC News Friday during at interview at a cemetery in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, where her son is buried.

'This is my son right here'

Rice wants someone to be held accountable for her son's death, and is calling for an inquiry so she can get some answers.

IOC has declined interview requests, saying in a statement thatit is taking the situation very seriously.

At one point during the interview, Rice points to a white crossand says, "This is my son right here. This is my son Lorne Winters. Here he is. My granddaughter don't have her dad."

Lorne Winters wasInuit. He moved the roughly 550 kilometres to Labrador West in 2009, when the iron ore industry was booming and two mines were operating.

Hetook a full-time job with IOC a year later.

"He thought he had the whole world ahead of him. It was full of promise. It was for a while," she said.

Rice saidthings started going very badly for him two years ago.

She alleges he was harassed and mistreated by his co-workers, and was subjected to racist comments and jokes about his indigenous background.

Fell into depression

The situation boiled over two years ago when Winters was involved in a verbal altercation with a supervisor, Rice said.

Her son was fired, and his case went before an arbitrator.

More than six months later, his dismissal was overturned, he was paid his lost wages, and he returned to his job in June 2015.

Rice said her son faced financial and emotional hardship during this timeand became depressed.

She said her son purchased a homewhen the housing market was red-hotand paid a premium price. She said he struggled to make his payments, but managed to scrape by.

After his return to work, Rice said her son had trouble adjusting to night shift work, and was receiving professional help for his mental health struggles.

But she said the mistreatment continued.

An hour late for work

About three months after his return, Rice said, he arrived an hour late for a shift, and was again fired.

This time an arbitrator sided with the company in a ruling handed down in June.

On Aug. 6, Rice logged onto Facebookand noticed a message. Her son's house was on fire.

"I begged on his voice message for Lorne to pick up the phone. He didn't," she said, her voice breaking with emotion.

Rice said other families are going through similar grief, and she believes more could have been done.

"I don't want another parent to feel that type of sadness, grief and shock that could have been prevented and should have been prevented," she said.