This entire family died of suspected overdoses. Those left say parents with addictions need more support

Anne Doig looks at three smiling faces on the funeral handouts in her lap — one much younger than the others.

A toddler in a Christmas onesie sits on a bed, propped up by pillows. The words "Madison Lily Cowan. August 6, 2021 — January 1, 2023" are printed in pink letters.

Madison's parents, John Cowan and Berkeley Donkervoort, both 38, died months after their only child. 

All three are suspected to have died of toxic drug poisoning, also called an overdose.

From the moment Madison was born, Doig worried the girl would struggle, given her parents' addictions.

"It's a dreadful thing to think, but absent of a very powerful intervention sustained over a long period of time, that little girl's hope of anything resembling a normal life was fraught," she said.

Doig and other family members want to see better support for parents living with addictions, and better protections for their children.

Doig says her son, John, was a "sunny and optimistic person." He studied pipe fitting in Alberta, but a head injury sustained in a car crash affected his ability to continue his career.

Berkeley was a dental hygienist who had "the biggest laugh," according to her mother, Susan Donkervoort. She believed Berkeley used fentanyl for eight years before she died.

John and Berkeley started dating in 2015, then got pregnant around Christmas 2020. Doig says Berkeley didn't get prenatal care until her third trimester, despite family encouragement.

She and Donkervoort believe Berkeley used drugs during her pregnancy.

Both grandmothers say they called Saskatoon police and Saskatchewan child protective services several times. They expressed concerns about the couple's drug use, as well as the fact the family was living with a person they say was a known drug dealer.

A social worker who checked in on the family would book visits in advance, Doig says, giving John and Berkeley lots of time to clean up and "cover their tracks."

She staged an intervention in December 2022 to get the parents help, but weeks later, Madison died.