The territory’s opposition party continued to ask the government Monday to hold off on making any changes to the Coroners Act until more consultation is done with a number of groups.

Those include the Child and Youth Advocate Office (CYAO), which sent a letter to Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee laying out recommendations for the bill.

As reported by CBC North, that letter says the office of Annette King (the advocate) was not consulted on the bill.

According to committee of the whole discussions last Thursday, the Yukon Hospital Corp. had also yet to see a copy of the proposed changes.

McPhee was unavailable to the Star for an interview. She did respond to the opposition criticism last week.

Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers, his party’s justice critic, has questioned the process by which the bill was drafted.

On Monday, he raised a motion requesting the government press pause on Bill 27, saying more feedback is needed from a host of groups.

“I am concerned and feel the government made a mistake in choosing not to do a broader consultation in developing this legislation,” Cathers said last Tuesday as MLAs took on a second reading of the bill.

Among the groups that the government could look at getting more input from, he said, are the Yukon Registered Nurses Association, the hospital corporation, Emergency Medical Services and Volunteer Ambulance Society, as well as community coroners and the CYAO.

McPhee rose to provide some clarity – defending the level of consultation that was done prior to the legislation being formed.

She said the RCMP were in fact consulted, among others.

“I personally met with a few community coroners that were interested in doing so,” McPhee said. She added she also met with the current chief coroner after receiving written comments from those who once served in the position. “This is a team effort.”

After explaining that letters were sent to all community coroners, McPhee said there were both efforts at getting specific and general input.

The minister pointed to the public consultation period, which involved an online survey that ran 45 days until Aug. 24 as an example.

Still, echoing the Yukon Party’s concerns of lack of consultation, King wrote a letter dated last Friday, saying the CYAO did not provide feedback – just three days after the bill had passed second reading in the assembly.

In the letter, King noted that the Child and Youth Advocate Act “is (also) due for a review.”

She reiterated some of the suggestions she said were made in July in submissions about this act as it related to he Coroners Act, to the Members’ Services Board (on which McPhee serves, along with Premier Sandy Silver and Cathers, among others).

Those suggestions include providing the coroner notify the YCAO when they come to know of a critical injury or death of a child or youth, or the death of a young adult who received services within two years before the death.

King also wrote that allowing her office to review and investigate critical injures and deaths of children would complement the powers already laid out in the Coroners Act for the coroner.

The letter goes on to suggest forming a Child Death Review Committee. It would review all deaths of children up to the maximum age of 18, along with the deaths of young adults who received services within two years before the death.

That is a recommendation already made by the Canadian Pediatric Society.

King noted that the committee should be chaired by the advocate. This may go hand-in-hand with maintaining a database to collect information relating to injuries and deaths of children.

Among the other submissions King made in her Oct. 19 letter, this time about the bill to amend the Coroners Act directly, are:

• better communication between the chief coroner and advocate about recommendations following inquests and investigations, when a death of a child or young adult who has passed away and received services within two years before the death is involved;

• sharing of information and resources between the coroner and advocate (and committee if established)

• a director under the Child and Family Service Act (CFSA) must let the coroner know about the facts and circumstances of a death of a child who was received any services and programs as laid out in the CFSA;

• a coroner notify the advocate of a death under any circumstances of a child – and the coroner must also notify the advocate of a death of a young adult who received services within two years of passing away.

If the committee is established, the corner must also notify the members when an investigation involves a death of a child or a young adult who received services within two years before the death, the coroner investigating must provide a written report to both the advocate and chief coroner; and

• greater transparency allowing the coroner to disclose information or matters that they become aware of, to both the advocate and committee.

In reference to the third listed recommendation, King wrote that currently, the bill requires the director to let the coroner know only when a death occurred in a residential facility – something she said is “too narrow a requirement.”

The services and programs that are laid out in the CFSA include counselling, out-of-home care, home-maker services, respite care, parenting programs, in-home support and other services to support children who experience or witness family violence.

The third recommendation listed above suggests that the director notify the coroner about the facts and situation around the death of any child who was receiving these services, rather than a death that occurred while the child was living in a residential facility.

According to the CFSA, those facilities can include residential centres, receiving homes, foster homes and group homes.

Discussing the sixth suggestion, King notes that currently, a section of the bill limits the coroner’s service and members of it from disclosing information unless it’s to serve in accordance with the act, another enactment or while carrying out the powers, duties and functions as a coroner under that act.

It goes on to state that if requested, the chief coroner must provide a copy of a report to a family member of the deceased. That can include inquest reports, chief coroner’s reports and those made if and when it’s determined that an investigation is not required.

In the case of the latter, the investigating coroner must stop all investigating, report to the chief coroner why it does not require notification, and provide any information and records to the chief coroner that was accessed during the investigation.

Meanwhile, a Justice department webpage lays out the important role coroners play in the community and territory.

The roles are independent from both government and law enforcement agencies, as well as health authorities. They review the events around each death and plan for investigations, in hopes of determining the identity and cause of death.