Melissa Pulente emerges as key figure in canoe inquest

Her name is Melissa Pulente.

So far, we haven't heard a word of testimony from her at the inquest into the North Channel canoeing deaths last spring of Saultites Megan Mitchell and Erica Auclair Mitchell.

But as the proceedings got underway Tuesday at the Sault Ste. Marie Court House, Melissa's name got mentioned a lot.

We know she was a favourite around Camp McDougall.

We know she started as a counsellor in 1999, becoming waterfront director when she turned 18 in 2002.

They liked Melissa so much around the United Church of Canada-owned wilderness facility that camp director Frank Deresti says they're planning to bring her back this coming summer, this time promoted to assistant camp director.

But another camp employee described Tuesday how, one year ago, Melissa Pulente persuaded her to bend the rules.

It was a decision that had deadly consequences.

Granted special access to hut containing canoes

Judith Paquin, a camp cook who's also paid to open and close Camp McDougall for the various groups that rent the grounds, described how Melissa persuaded her to grant special access to a locked storage hut containing the camp canoes.

The next day, three of those canoes capsized into a frigid strip of water separating the church camp from Gooseberry Island.

The next day, Megan and Erica Auclair-Mitchell, 11-year-old cousins who attended St. Mark and St. Theresa Catholic schools, died at Sault Area Hospital.

From hypothermia.

Bruce Avery, chair of Camp McDougall Inc., told the inquest that the group of 50 Girl Guides that Megan and Erica were part of that May 31 weekend did not have permission to use the canoes.

Canoes weren't part of the deal The contract signed by the Guides to rent the camp specifically said that recreational equipment was to be used only with written permission.

No such permission was granted in this case, Avery told the three-woman, two-man coroner's jury.

In fact, the camp had never once authorized an outside group to use its canoes and probably wouldn't have agreed to do so for liability and safety reasons, Avery testified.

At that time of year, the canoes were kept locked in a storage hut that also contained craft supplies.

So how did Pulente and the Girl Guides get to the canoes?

"I made an exception to the rules," Paquin admitted.

'She was a co-worker - and a friend'

"I didn't see anything wrong with it, because she [Melissa] was a co-worker .... and a friend."

As waterfront director, Melissa Pulente oversaw all of Camp McDougall's swimming and canoeing activities.

But the waterfront season hadn't yet started at the camp and Melissa wasn't there in any official capacity.

She was there as a leader of the visting Girl Guides.

And when Pulente said she needed some extra glue guns for camp crafts, Paquin agreed to unlock the storage hut to allow her to retrieve them.

'I left the door unlocked'

"There was lots of clutter," Paquin testified.

"She said she would get them later. I left the door unlocked."

The May 31 weekend at Camp McDougall was organized as a Brownie camp.

Brownies are seven, eight and nine years old.

But older girls came as well.

Megan Mitchell was one. Megan was 11, but turned up each week at Brownie meetings to lend a hand.

Nancy Cardiff, a 25-year-veteran of Guiding in Sault Ste. Marie, testified Tuesday that the canoe trip to Gooseberry Island was planned some time in advance.

Older girls only

No Brownies would participate, according to the plan.

The canoe trip, expected to take between 60 to 90 minutes, was organized as a special activity for the older girls, aged 10 through 13, Cardiff said.

Around Camp McDougall, everyone referred to Gooseberry Island as 'Shipwreck' Island.

Less than a kilometre from the United Church camp, out there in the North Channel, it looked like two little islands.

But it was just one piece of connected land.

Campers would canoe to shipwreck site

Shipwreck Island wasn't much to look at.

An abandoned cottage.

A sunken turn-of-the-century barge nearby.

Camp McDougall does allow its canoes to be used, under supervision, at camps operated by its own staff, including Melissa Pulente.

Campers would sometimes canoe out to the island to look at the shipwreck, camp director Deresti said.

"You can see parts of it that are sticking out of the water."

Evidence has indicated that the canoeists left on a pefect, windless Saturday morning, reached Gooseberry Island, and then ran into trouble when the weather changed on the return trip.

Nuances of testimony

Cross-examination of early witnesses began to explore other nuances of the case, including:

- the degree of compliance by the Girl Guides of Canada with boating regulations

- the amount of planning they did to minimize risk in the event of an capsizing

- an alleged initial period of 50 to 60 minutes during which the Ontario Provincial Police failed to respond

The Camp McDougall rules

Camp director Frank Deresti testified that whenever Camp McDougall uses its own canoes, two certified members of its waterfront staff must accompany them, one in the lead canoe and the second bringing up the rear in the 'sweep' canoe.

Also, a camp staff member is required in each canoe, and someone must spot the canoes from the shore. Camp rules require a large amount of equipment to be on hand, including personal flotation devices, an air horn, megaphone, bouys, throw-ropes, a two-way radio, bailers and a spinal board.

The Gooseberry Island visitors had little such equipment except for lifejackets, all of which were checked to make sure they were properly secured and fitted.

OPP, Girl Guides both have legal teams here

Both the Ontario Provincial Police and the Girl Guides of Canada have been granted standing at the inquest and have sent legal teams to the Sault.

The purpose of a coroner's inquest is not to assign or apportion blame, but to determine the time, place, manner and cause of death and to make recommendations to prevent future fatalities.

Further testimony is expected to reveal what happened when the campers went in the water, and to explore in greater detail the search-and-rescue response to the accident.

The inquest is expected to take the rest of this week and probably into next week.

Melissa Pulente is expected to share her side of what happened.

Coroner's counsel Nancy Komsa indicates expert witnesses will be called to talk about hypothermia and boating safety equipment.

The inquest resumes at 9 a.m. this morning.