Nunavut coroner’s office ready to start inquest into suicide

Nunavut’s chief coroner, Padma Suramala (far left), her legal counsel, Sheldon Toner, and Northwest Territories coroner Garth Eggenberger at a press conference in Iqaluit Sept. 10 ahead of a two-week inquest into Nunavut’s high suicide rates that’s set to begin Sept. 14. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

A coroner’s inquest into Nunavut’s chronically high rate of suicide will finally get underway Sept. 14 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

The discretionary inquest, first announced by the territory’s chief coroner Padma Suramala in January 2014, will span two weeks, will be open to the public and will include an opportunity for public input, if time permits, Suramala and other officials explained at a Sept. 11 news conference in Iqaluit.

Suramala decided to hold an inquest after revealing in January 2014 that 45 Nunavummiut died by suicide in 2013 — the highest annual number since 1999.

The purpose of the inquest is to inform the public about the social conditions in Nunavut which lie behind the high suicide rate in the territory, and to encourage front-line workers across the territory engaged in suicide prevention, said the coroner’s lawyer, Sheldon Toner.

Originally, the inquest was to be held in the fall of 2014, but the start-date was delayed twice because of the difficulty in finding families affected by suicide who are willing to participate, justice minister Paul Okalik told the Nunavut legislature this past June.

The final number of families participating in the inquest is two — down from the five that Suramala originally said she hoped would participate.

Those two families will testify on the afternoon of Sept. 14, according to a schedule of the inquest handed out at the news conference.

Garth Eggenberger, a coroner from the Northwest Territories who will preside over the inquest, will select a six-person jury on the morning of Sept. 14.

The jury will be responsible for coming up with recommendations on how different territorial departments and organizations can better address the high rate of suicide in Nunavut.

Before the jury deliberates, its members will hear testimony from different government departments, as well as from the Nunavut RCMP, Inuit organizations, academics and suicide prevention organizations.

Members of the public will get an opportunity to provide their input at the inquest, Suramala said Sept. 11, so long as the inquest stays on schedule.

Sept. 22 has been set aside for the inquest to hear those comments, Eggenberger said, between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Allavvik building. That’s the yellow office building located at the entrance to Inuksagait Plaza.

Members of the public wishing to comment, should contact Suramala ahead of time at 975-7292 or PSuramalaJUS@gov.nu.ca.

“I encourage all Nunavummiut to share your painful memories for a better future of Nunavut,” Suramala said.

After the jury’s recommendations are distributed to the different organizations, Suramala said her office will provide oversight on the implementation of those recommendations by checking in with the organizations every six months.

“We need a change in the way that Nunavut is treating suicides,” Eggenberger said.

There were 27 deaths by suicide in Nunavut in 2014, and as of this past September here had been 26 deaths by suicide in the territory so far this year.

Since 1999, 486 people in Nunavut have died by suicide: 393 males and 93 females. The overwhelming majority of those deaths — 479 — occurred among Inuit. Only seven non-Inuit people have died by suicide in Nunavut since 1999.

People who struggle with suicidal thoughts may contact the Kamatsiaqtut help line in Iqaluit at (867) 979-3333 or toll-free at 1(800) 265-3333, from 7 p.m. to midnight.

Nunavut Coroner's Suicide Inquest Schedule