The government will not hold a public inquiry into the tragic death of Raymond Silverfox in RCMP cells, and on Wednesday adjourned debate on Opposition Leader Arthur Mitchell's motion urging it to do just that.

The 43-year-old Carmacks man was the fourth aboriginal person to die in RCMP custody in the Yukon in 10 years.

Silverfox's treatment by police and guards at Whitehorse RCMP headquarters in the hours before his December 2008 death has fuelled public outrage, spurred a potential lawsuit against the police by Silverfox's family and Mitchell's call for an inquiry.

But before the Yukon Party government used its majority to kill the Liberal leader's motion, Justice Minister Marian Horne said the government is doing enough to address what went wrong that fateful evening.

"The work that the RCMP and we, the government, are doing is more encompassing, much broader than that which is envisioned in this motion,” Horne told the House.

"As a result, we believe the steps that are already being taken, including the investigative steps by the RCMP and the continuing involvement of the Crown prosecutor, should be allowed to continue.”

Last Thursday, as damning testimony mounted at the coroner's inquest into Silverfox's death, including callous comments by police and guards directed at the dying man as he lay helpless in his own vomit, Horne called a press conference to announce a joint RCMP policing review.

But Mitchell believes the circumstances surrounding Silverfox's death require more than a review and some non-binding recommendations.

"A man was objectified and treated worse than we treat animals,” Mitchell told the legislative assembly Wednesday.

"The family of Mr. Silverfox had noted that if our pet were sick, we would take it to the vet for treatment.

We would not allow a pet animal to be sick more than 20 times and leave it to lie in its own filth.

"This was a human being, a family man, a member of a first nation, a member of our Yukon community.

"How could our treatment have become so impersonal, so objectified, that we lost sight of the humanity of a person?”

The recent trial and acquittal of two off-duty police officers charged in March 2009 with raping a woman in Watson Lake has also rattled the public's confidence in the RCMP.

That high-profile case, which angered women's groups, together with damaging testimony from the Silverfox inquiry, have "tested the confidence” citizens had of their police force, Yukon RCMP Supt. Peter Clark said last Thursday.

That day, Clark, Horne and deputy Justice minister Dennis Cooley held the news conference to announce a policing review panel.

There, Horne denied it was the Silverfox inquest that finally pushed her government to respond, more than a year after the fact."Everything takes time ... this is a precendent-setting action that we're taking,” Horne said.

To date, the only public agency taking any action has been the RCMP. Constables Graham Belak and Shawn McLaughlin were acquitted of sexual assault charges laid in Watson Lake, but now face internal disciplinary hearings and punishment could include termination.

The force is also pursuing "disciplinary action” against one officer, Clark noted.

According to testimony at the Silverfox coroner's inquest, Const. Geoff Corbett is under a code-of-conduct investigation for his role in the incident.

On Tuesday, Clark offered a public apology for the RCMP's treatment of Silverfox.

"There is no doubt that in our care and handling of Mr. Silverfox, we have failed to respect and live up to the standards and values that not only Yukoners, but all Canadians expect us to meet,” Clark said in a press release. "We have failed you, and we have failed ourselves.”