Reply to jail inquest extended by six months

The jury made 62 recommendations for reform at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre after examining eight drug deaths

It’s been six months since a jury made 62 sweeping recommendations to reform the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre after an inquest into the drug overdose deaths of eight inmates.

That’s the amount of time responding parties, including the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services that oversees the Barton Street jail, has to respond.

But those answers have been postponed a further six months because of a paperwork delay, all while more inmates have died at the facility.

It is “very unusual,” lawyer Kevin Egan, who represented April Tykoliz, the sister of Marty Tykoliz (one of the eight men who died) said about the delay. “It’s mind-boggling.” However Cheryl Mahyr, a spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Coroner, said it can take “some time” to prepare the verdict explanation letter and complete the packages.

A coroner’s inquest is not about assigning blame, but rather about exploring the factors that contributed to a death.

A jury must rule on the cause and manner of each person’s death and can make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.

The recommendations are not binding.

After an inquest, the recommendations undergo an analysis to make sure each one is directed at the right recipient, Mahyr said.

The presiding coroner — in this case Dr. Reuven Jhirad — also has to prepare a verdict explanation that includes a brief synopsis.

The parties have six months to respond after receiving this verdict explanation.

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services only received the letter in this case on Nov. 9, said spokesperson Brent Ross.

That’s nearly six months after the jury made the recommendations on May 18.

Ross said the ministry now has until next May to respond.

“It’s unreal, sad, frustrating, devastating and irresponsible,” said April Tykoliz, adding that it also hurts the jury and everyone involved in the lengthy inquest.

Egan, who has represented families at many inquests before meeting Tykoliz, said it typically takes a week or two to prepare the verdict explanation.

He recognizes that his inquest was particularly complex — lasting six weeks and looking at eight different deaths.

But he says the amount of time is still exceptionally long.

He started becoming concerned about a lack of response in the summer and said he wrote to counsel requesting a copy of the letter in September.

He did get a copy of the 33-page document in October, but did not get an explanation for the delay, he said.

Egan also points out that while the ministry technically can take six months from when it received the letter, staff and lawyers were there throughout the inquest and have had access to the recommendations since the moment they were released.

Each death was unique, but the six-week inquest also exposed overarching issues about how drugs get into jails, supervision of inmates, access to health care and communication between staff and agencies.

In addition to Tykoliz, the inquest also examined the deaths of Louis Unelli, William Acheson, Trevor Burke, Stephen Neeson, David Gillan, Julien Walton and Peter McNelis.

At the conclusion of the inquest the coroner’s counsel and participants to the inquest offered 47 suggested recommendations, but the five-person jury came back with a powerful list of 62 recommendations.

Some were bold, including limiting two inmates per cell and considering random searches of correctional staff.

Others were recommendations other inquests have heard, but the government has said no to — such as having corrections staff continuously monitor security cameras.

This isn’t the first delay. The inquest was initially delayed as more inmates continued to die, adding to the caseload and expanding the time the inquest would take. Eventually the coroner’s office set a 2016 cut-off date.

Then more delays came after the regional supervising coroner was fired, and then again at the request of families who had not received disclosure with enough time to prepare.

Deaths since the 2016 cut-off will have their own inquests — including two already called in the deaths of Ryan McKechnie, 34, in June 2017 and Brennan Bowley, 23, in January 2018.

Other recent deaths include Johnny Sharp in September.

During the inquest the province announced several changes that had already happened or were already in the process of being implemented.

This included full body scanners — a longtime request by correctional officers — being installed before the inquest began.

And on one of the final days of the inquest the province announced the Barton jail was getting a dedicated security team focused on searches and investigating how drugs get into the detention centre.

The ministry says the Institutional Security Team (IST) is up and running at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre.

‘‘ It’s unreal, sad, frustrating, devastating and irresponsible. APRIL TYKOLIZ Sister of Marty Tykoliz