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Inquests would have helped

October 13, 2017   ·   0 Comments

THERE’S NO DOUBT that both Orangeville Police and the police services board were bound under the terms of settlement not to discuss details of the pacts that resolved lawsuits by the families of murder victim Heidi Ferguson and Adam Sprague,who died in a police cell.

However, there’s equally no doubt that the public has been left in the dark far more than would have been the case 100 years ago.

Back then, both deaths would have resulted immediately in coroner’s inquests, at which the jurors would be asked to determine not only how it was that the person died, but what measures should be taken to avoid a recurrence of such tragedies.

Although Ontario’s Coroner’s Act still permits such inquests, they are almost never held, and when they do take place it’s only after any investigations, lawsuits and/or criminal proceedings have concluded.

Thus it is that Orangeville residents will likely never know what, if any, measures were taken to prevent a recurrence, or whether there is a continuing risk of something similar happening.

It all leads us to wonder whether now, so many years later, two inquests could not be held, if only to put the public’s minds at rest.


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