Fired health workers demand public inquiry
Independent probe seen as only way to get real answers
VICTORIA — Seven health researchers fired by the B.C. government, and the family of an eighth man who killed himself, have banded together to demand a public inquiry into the case.
In an open letter to Health Minister Terry Lake, the researchers called Wednesday for a “thorough and independent inquiry” of their firings, which would be wide-reaching, unhindered by financial constraints and reported publicly through the legislature.
“In order to allow the inquiry to gather evidence, it must have subpoena powers for people and documents, the ability to retrieve deleted documents and the authority to take statements under oath,” the letter says.
It’s the first joint public statement by the researchers since their termination almost three years ago.
The government fired the eight staffers in September 2012, publicly citing an alleged breach in the handling of confidential public health data and a police probe into possible criminal wrongdoing.
One of those terminated, University of Victoria PhD candidate Roderick MacIsaac, committed suicide three months later.
Since then, the government has backtracked from the firings, saying they were heavy-handed and the result of an unfair internal investigation. It has apologized, settled several lawsuits and rehired some of the staff.
But the controversy has only grown.
Calls for an inquiry grew earlier this month after the release of internal police documents that showed the RCMP never conducted a criminal investigation into the researchers — despite repeated claims by government — because the Ministry of Health failed to provide any proof of criminal wrongdoing.
Former deputy health minister Graham Whitmarsh, who fired the employees in 2012 and has since left government, has also called for an inquiry, saying it’s the only way for the public to get real answers in the case.
Premier Christy Clark said Tuesday she’s trying to find a way to release more information.
“There have been some legal and privacy issues that have made it really hard for us to do that, so what I’m doing now is looking at how we can share as much information, disclose as much information as absolutely legally allowed, and make sure we really come up with some answers in a very timely and cost-effective way,” she said.
The government loses control over the cost, direction and length of a public inquiry after it appoints a commissioner and sets initial terms of reference under the Public Inquiry Act. A 2012 inquiry report into missing and murdered women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside took two years and cost almost $10 million.
The researchers who signed Wednesday’s letter include Ramsay Hamdi, Bob Hart, Malcolm Maclure, Ron Mattson, David Scott, Rebecca Warburton and Bill Warburton. The Warburtons, who are married, are still involved in legal action against the government. Linda Kayfish, MacIsaac’s sister, signed the letter on behalf of his family.
The researchers said they share government’s concerns about an inquiry affecting their privacy, and some may need to be released from confidentiality clauses, signed as parts of settlements with the province, to participate.
“The inquiry should have its own substantial budget that must provide for payment of legal costs for anyone who has a legitimate interest in both the process and the outcome of the inquiry,” the letter says.
The researchers also said an inquiry is needed to examine the damage caused to PharmaCare drug research after the firings, as well as to independent drug research from the province’s Therapeutics Initiative, which was temporarily defunded.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong, who was health minister during the early stages of the investigations that led to the firings, was skeptical Tuesday of the need for an inquiry.
“What is the question that is to be answered by an inquiry that, generally speaking, will involve the expenditure of millions upon millions of dollars?” he told reporters.
“The desire to ensure that employees are treated fairly and that there are proper processes in place to guarantee that fact is not, in my view, dependent upon a public inquiry.”
NDP leader John Horgan criticized the government for its inaction.
“Everyone who has had a meaningful role to play in this fiasco has called for an inquiry except the people who perpetuated it,” he said. “This is unconscionable.”