Delores Stevenson holds a photo of family member Nadine Machiskinic
Pressure from media agencies has sped up the chief coroner’s response to the demand for answers in Nadine Machiskinic’s death.
An inquest into the Aboriginal woman’s death in January of 2015 will be held “in order to provide an opportunity to thoroughly review the circumstances in a public forum,” but the dates have yet to be finalized.
Machiskinic was 29 years old when she fell 100 feet to her death, down a laundry chute at Regina’s Delta Hotel.
The government news release came out around the same time it was addressed in the legislative house’s Question Period in a question from the NDP’s Nicole Sarauer.
“Nadine’s family deserved so much better for their daughter, mother and sister,” she said.
She pointed out criticism of the handling of Machiskinic’s death. This includes a CBC report with the former chief medical examiner with Alberta and Nova Scotia saying that a full coroner’s inquest is needed in this case.
Sarauer asked the minister if he agreed that a coroner’s inquest was needed, which led to the Minister of Justice, Gordon Wyant, to confirm there will be an inquest.
Wyant responded with a reminder that the Coroner’s Office is independent of the Ministry of Justice, but it’s “also very important that the public maintain confidence in the administration of justice,” he said.
This is very similar to the wording of Stewart’s release, which states “It is important that the public confidence in the Coroners Service be upheld.”
Sarauer also asked Wyant if his ministry will “examine the death review process to ensure this confusion and mismanagement never happens again?”
Wyant acknowledged the full attention of law enforcement is needed in suspicious deaths, and went on to say
“Our office will be working with him (the chief coroner) just to determine what the scope of that inquest will be.”
However, Wyant did not mention any further reviews aside from the inquest.
Coroner’s inquests seek to find answers surrounding an individual’s death, and possible steps that can be taken to prevent similar deaths in the future. A jury of six members of the public are responsible for recommendations coming from the testimony heard at the inquest.
Families of the victim are able to gain standing and ask questions at inquests, and in the case of Machiskinic’s family there are many questions to be answered.
– with files from Manfred Joehnck