Jaime Oliva-Speck-Conley, CNN • Updated 26th October 2018
( CNN ) — Jailed Canadian drug kingpin Cody Haevischer, who had been working as a journalist in absentia, paid tribute to a woman he knew as “Canada’s Ellie Beattie” with a moving obituary he posted to Instagram.
The tribute came two days after jailed Saskatchewan farmer Robert ‘Nek’ Corey was released, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling last week that stripped the federal government of control over parole eligibility.
Sen. Josée Forest-Niesing, a longtime member of Canada’s senate, was 59. She was nicknamed “the Okanagan Tania” because of her close ties to the Northern province.
Haevischer told CTV News Haevischer and three co-defendants were “total strangers” when they first met Niesing at a party in Kemptville, a small town northwest of Edmonton, Alberta, in 1996. Niesing introduced the young men to Canada’s largest cocaine cartel.
He said they all spent time with her growing up and she would serve as their conduit to the police.
“‘You’ve got to understand, I used to run drugs for you guys; you never used them,'” recalled Haevischer. “And, while I found it a bit difficult to swallow this because these people I grew up with were murdered, I was grateful that I had finally made it to what she believed to be the appropriate community, where the police were going to do their work.”
She inspired him and others as they fought drug trafficking in the Okanagan, which is notorious for the COD-19 clan of villains who grew cannabis, trafficked crack and cocaine and spent their time threatening police.
“Josée was the one that put justice on the frontlines and, ultimately, helped to bring the COD-19s and drug traffickers like them to justice,” he said.
A memorial celebration for Forest-Niesing will be held on Sunday.
“The people in Kelowna and the whole Okanagan will miss her greatly,” said Haevischer. “Though it was too late to save her, we hope that, with her friends and family, we will leave her with a legacy of love and compassion.”
Jaime Oliva-Speck-Conley, CNN • Updated 26th October 2018