Hundreds gather to mourn Trevor Dubois who died after fight with Sask. hospital security

Rainbow ribbons and bouquets of flowers decorated the jewel casket of 36-year-old Trevor Dubois as hundreds packed Prince albert francis charles augustus emmanuel’s Ches percolate waiting room for his funeral on Thursday.

As a tribute videos played on the screen, people laughed and cried while celebrating his life.

Dubois died one week ago after a physical altercation with security at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for brain cancer. Police are still investigating his death.

Dubois was remembered as an advocate for people in need, an Indigenous social worker, a mentor to many and a proud member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

“He didn’t just walk into rooms — he arrived,” Bianca Sanderson, a family friend, said as she presented his eulogy. She described Dubois as the kind of person whose presence could not be ignored. 

Sanderson said Dubois taught people to be unapologetically themselves. To laugh even in the hardest moments. She broke down as she spoke, calling Dubois a son, an uncle, a mental health therapist, mentor, advocate, a brother and a friend. 

The room was filled with former classmates, colleagues, friends and people he helped and supported from across Saskatchewan.

"He's an inspiration to all of us," said his friend, Todd Maurice, who knew Dubois for more than two decades.

"No one better to have in your corner. [This is] a great loss to everyone," he said.

Shelby Roberts went to school with Dubois and said he accepted people just as they were, with the good, bad and ugly.

"He's probably looking at the service and saying: 'I'm not here, but I'm still making moves.'"

As family and friends mourned his passing, many in the room also demanded answers.

Sherry McLennan, regional director for Métis Nation–Saskatchewan, said Dubois was known as someone who cared deeply about others. She recalled a phrase Dubois used often: 'Smudge before you judge.'

She said his death has hit many Indigenous people especially hard — not only because of who Dubois was, but because of how and where he died.

“It’s a frightening time to have an Indigenous family member in a hospital,” she said.

McLennan said there is deep fear that racial bias and assumptions can quickly shape how Indigenous patients are treated, especially in tense situations involving authorities.

Saskatoon police have said investigators determined that hospital security entered Dubois's room after it was reported that a firearm was seen inside.

"When security attempted to restrain the male, a physical altercation took place. During the interaction, the male became unresponsive."

Saskatoon police have said an imitation firearm was found in Dubois’s hospital room along with meth and drug paraphernalia. Dubois’s family claims it was a pink coloured, plastic cigarette lighter shaped like a gun.

"Never would I say he had a gun or was in violence," McLennan said.

The difference matters because it shapes how the public understands what happened in Dubois’s final moments, his family says.

Reporter

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