The widower of a woman who died while in RCMP custody in the Yukon two years ago is tired of the federal government's lagging response to his concerns.

Kelly Benson filed a lawsuit against the Attorney General of Canada after his wife, Heather, was killed in a patrol car crash on the South Klondike Highway in September 2003.

'I'm tired of fooling around,' Kelly said in a recent interview with the Star.

'I'm definitely tired of fooling around. The bucks gonna stop and it's gonna stop here.'

Heather was being driven from Tagish to Whitehorse in the back of the police cruiser when the car rolled off the road just north of Lewes Lake.

In a territorial court trial that ended last February, the officer driving the car, Jeff Monkman, was fined $1,000 for careless driving under the Motor Vehicles Act.

The suit Kelly filed against the Attorney General is both financial and symbolic, he said.

'Something has to be said here,' he said.

'The monetary value here is not the question, you know. It's the admittance of guilt.'

Since Heather died, the family has dealt with a vast array of changes in their lives. They're living on a survivor benefit, which Kelly described as a 'kick in the teeth.'

He had to relocate his children to Moose Jaw, Sask., to be closer to his mother and sisters. Working as an underground miner, he felt the need to live close to family relations who could help him care for his children, especially while he is away working.

The transition has been very hard for himself and his two children, he said.

'They were both born and raised in the mountains. Now we're living in the flatlands in the big city,' Kelly said from his home in Moose Jaw.

'The scars on my children are never going to end here, you know. This is a day-by-day thing that's going on, and it will always go on. They miss their mother terribly here.'

Kelly has filed the terms for settlement with the Attorney General, who is due to respond this week.

If the government rejects Kelly's terms, he is ready to go to court.

'The Attorney General, they want to settle, but they're dragging their feet. It's been awful slow going here.'

While the coroner's inquest into Heather's death began this morning in Whitehorse, Kelly has no faith that the investigation will bring about any change. He noted the inquest is mandatory because Heather died in police custody.

There are already guidelines and regulations that police are required to follow, he added. Some of them were not followed the day Heather died, he believes.

'Taking her out of the house at 4:30 in the morning, was she a flight risk? Was she going to run away?' he asked.

'There's no way that she was going to run away and leave her two children behind over a home-grown pot charge.'

By press time this afternoon, officials at the Attorney General's office could not confirm the status of the widower's suit.

The inquest began in front of the Yukon's chief coroner, Sharon Hanley, and a jury of three men and three women. Monkman was the first witness to take the stand.

Between 17 to 18 witnesses are expected to be called in to testify over the course of the inquest, which could last up to two weeks.