Inquest into seven deaths at London jail delayed again by province

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The province is making another attempt to limit the scope of a coroner’s inquest into seven London jail deaths.

The unusual legal move means answers about the deaths of the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC) inmates, occurring from 2017 to 2021, will be delayed again.

“I’m disappointed that it seems the people who need to hear this information are doing everything in their power not to have to hear it,” Adrienne Clarke, brother of one of the inmates, Clayton Bissonnette, said Monday.

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The delay, just after the inquest finally was going to start, only makes the suffering of all the families worse, she said.

“We’ve gone through enough suffering. We shouldn’t have to open up that wound, only to have it closed up again, until some undetermined amount of time.”

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Coroner’s inquest juries determine the circumstances surrounding a person’s death and if possible, make recommendations to prevent further deaths.

The inquest into the seven EMDC deaths was set to begin Oct. 21. Ten days before the start, and despite an earlier agreement, the Ministry of the Solicitor General asked the presiding coroner to remove three issues from the scope of the inquest. The ministry oversees operation of adult correctional facilities.

The ministry argued the inquest shouldn’t examine a potential lack of programming and staffing levels at EMDC, arguing there was no evidence those factors contributed to the men’s deaths.

The ministry also argued against the inquest looking at the lack of support for families of inmates who died, saying that’s not relevant because it relates to matters after the deaths.

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The ministry also argued a corrections consultant, Andrea Monteiro, shouldn’t be allowed to give evidence as an expert. Monteiro worked previously as deputy superintendent of an Ontario jail, manager of the province’s independent review of corrections, and director of corrections for the Yukon territory.

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Coroner’s counsel, Julian Roy, and the lawyers for the families argued the three issues should remain part of the inquest, and Monteiro should be allowed to testify as an expert witness.

The inquest’s presiding coroner, Dr. John Carlisle, ruled on Oct. 23 the scope would remain as planned.

At a hearing Oct. 25, a ministry lawyer asked for a week’s adjournment to see if the province wanted take the coroner’s decision to divisional court for a judicial review.

Carlisle granted the adjournment but urged the ministry lawyers to get an answer as quickly as possible.

Quickly turned out to be about a month. The ministry filed its application for judicial review Nov. 22. The ministry is no longer challenging the examination of family supports.

But the coroner erred legally and factually in determining that programming, staff retention and staff absenteeism should remain with the inquest scope, the new application states.

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“Dr. Carlisle’s decision is also unreasonable on the basis that he relied almost exclusively on extraneous evidence, such as his personal experience as a physician and recommendations from other inquests” to include the issues, the application states.

As for the witness, she “did not have the skills, experience, training or education to be qualified to provide expert opinion evidence regarding program delivery,” the application states.

London lawyer Kevin Egan is representing several families of those who died. He said in a previous interview he’s never seen the province attempt to limit the scope of an EMDC inquest at the last minute.

Inquest recommendations don’t have to be followed, but they do give the family some answers and can be cathartic, Egan said.

Clarke said she wasn’t walking into the inquest “blindly with optimism and hope” for change. But the province’s moves make it seem even less likely, she said.

“That’s very discouraging for any kind of change to happen.”

The province is trying to limit its accountability, her brother David Kieser said.

But Kieser continues to hold out hope Clayton didn’t die in vain.

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“The delay doesn’t bother me. All in good time. I do hope that we find a solution that helps a family in the future not lose their family members,” he said.

This inquest was to examine the deaths of Raymond Major, 52, who died June 6, 2017; Ronald Jenkins, 49, who died Dec. 9, 2017; James Pigeau, 32, who died Jan. 7, 2018; Sean Tourand-Brightman, 33, who died March 31, 2019; Chase Blanchard, 29, who died on June 21, 2019; Malcom Ripley, 41, who died Nov. 25, 2020; and Clayton Bissonnette, 61, who died March 24, 2021.

rrichmond@postmedia.com

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