Opposition New Democrats targeted Justice Minister Suzanne Anton in the legislature Tuesday over the provincial government's refusal to provide the families of the four men killed in the 2012 sawmill blasts publicly-funded legal representation for the upcoming coroner's inquest.
During the morning sitting, NDP legal critic Shane Simpson said all other parties will have legal counsel, "but the real victims - the families - will be on their own."
"WorkSafe's inaction allowed the unsafe dust accumulation to occur unchecked in the two mills. Government incompetence ensured that no one involved in these tragedies will face the justice system. Further, the B.C. Liberals have denied the calls for a public inquiry," Simpson also said.
"Now the government won't support the families by helping them obtain independent counsel for the coroner's inquest. Is this what the Premier meant when she told families that she would have their back?"
In response, Anton said the chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe, has taken extra steps to make sure the families' interests will be heard, namely an additional coroner and an additional coroner's counsel.
"It is clear that the coroner is determined that she will have the resources, the inquest will have the resources and the families will have the resources that they need to find the answers to prevent, and to make recommendations to prevent, a tragedy like this from happening again," Anton said.
A single inquest will be held in March into the dust-related explosions and fires that leveled Babine Forest Products near Burns Lake in January 2012 and Lakeland Mills in Prince George three months later. Carl Charlie, 42, and Robert Luggi, 45, were killed in the Babine incident and Glenn Roche, 46, and Alan Little, 43, died from injuries in the Lakeland one.
The families wrote to Premier Christy Clark asking the government to provide a lawyer to represent them at the inquest. The letter was handed off to Lapointe for a response and she turned down the request. Had she said yes, it would have been a first.
In an inquest, a jury hears evidence related to a death in order to make recommendations to prevent similar events in the future. Blame cannot be assigned for the cause of the death and coroner's counsel poses questions to witnesses on behalf of the public.
Counsel representing the families of the victims are also allowed to question witnesses and suggest recommendations to the jury, but the families must also foot the bill. Cameron Ward represented the family of Greg Matters during this fall's inquest into the fatal shooting of the military veteran on his family's Pineview property in September 2012.
Anton sidestepped comments from Justice critic Leonard Krog about the willingness of the government to pay the legal bills of its friends while denying the same support to the families.
"The issue at hand is the coroner's inquest," Anton said. "The issue at hand is the tragedies that took place in Burns Lake and Prince George. The issue is whether or not the answers to those tragedies can be found. That is the goal of the coroner's inquest."
