London jail deaths inquest delayed to point of no return: Lawyer

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Urged by a coroner to figure quickly out its next steps at a delayed inquest, a provincial ministry is seeking even more time to provide answers.

That has derailed the inquest indefinitely and put families who were on the brink of learning more about their loved ones’ deaths back into the shadows, says London lawyer Kevin Egan.

“It’s very disappointing. The families all got prepared and all of a sudden the air is out of the balloon,” said Egan, who represents several families of inmates involved in the inquest.

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“Families are kept in the dark. They’ve been waiting for years for some indication of what happened to their loved ones. Now, again, they have to wait.”

An inquest into the death of seven Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC) inmates was supposed to start Oct. 21.

Families already have waiting a long time. The seven inmates who are the subject of this inquest died from 2017 to 2021.

The Ministry of the Solicitor General oversees adult correctional centres in Ontario. Despite an earlier agreement on the scope of the inquest, ministry lawyers asked 10 days before the inquest started that three areas no longer be examined by an inquest jury.

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

The ministry also opposes testimony from family members about the lack of support after inmates die, arguing that’s not relevant because it relates to matters after the deaths.

Coroner’s counsel, Julian Roy, and the lawyers for the families argued the issues should remain part of the inquest.

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“If you’re going to create an atmosphere where prisoners and their loved ones aren’t deserving of respect, where they don’t properly staff the institution and supervise the inmates or don’t provide them with the environment where they can achieve successful rehabilitation and reintegration, it’s going to lead to further deaths,” Egan said Friday.

The inquest’s presiding coroner, John Carlisle, ruled 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.

That first week of the adjournment passed, then a second. The ministry now is seeking more time, until the week of Nov. 18, to say if it will seek a judicial review, Egan said Friday.

The first adjournment started to derail the inquest and this latest request makes that derailment a reality, Egan said.

There’s no way the inquest can go ahead now, or in the foreseeable future, he said.

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A spokesperson for the chief coroner of Ontario could not be reached for comment Friday.

Egan has represented the families of inmates in several previous inquests and says he’s never seen the province attempt to limit the scope at the last minute.

“I suspect it’s because there’s about to be an election called and the provincial government would prefer not to have bad publicity about the way they run their institutions,” Egan said.

Several recent measures by the Doug Ford government have fueled speculation the premier will call an early election, rather than waiting until 2026.

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