The coroner's inquest into the tragic van crash that killed seven high school basketball players and a local teacher should be webcast, according to two parents of teens who died in the accident.

'In my opinion in this case, yes [it should have been broadcast] because people are going to be aware of what is going on and they will have an idea of why we are asking for these changes.'— parent Ana Acevedo

In its first three days, the coroner's inquest has heard compelling testimony from key witnesses, including the two surviving players and the two drivers involved in the tragic crash. The inquest is expected to last for almost two weeks.

Most of the witnesses have found it too difficult to talk outside the hearing about what they remember from that early-morning crash. That raises questions about whether the inquiry should have been webcast so the public could hear first-hand exactly what happened.

Greg Forestell, the province's acting chief coroner who ordered the inquest last winter, eventually decided not to allow the public to view it online.

Ana Acevedo and Isabelle Hains, who both lost sons in the crash, said that decision was a mistake because it restricts the public's access to the facts.

"In my opinion in this case, yes [it should have been broadcast] because people are going to be aware of what is going on and they will have an idea of why we are asking for these changes," Acevedo said.

Acevedo and Hains have been outspoken in their demand for stronger rules on student transportation in the wake of the accident in January 2008.

Other N.B. hearings broadcast

New Brunswick has begun to loosen it restrictions on broadcasting public hearings. Cameras were allowed in the New Brunswick Court of Appeal to broadcast the arguments in the case of Dr. Henry Morgentaler and his ongoing fight against the New Brunswick government over its refusal to fund abortions in the province.

As well, the Justice Paul Creaghan's commission of inquiry into the work of Dr. Rajgopal Menon, a former Miramichi pathologist, was carried start to finish on the internet.

In Nova Scotia, an upcoming coroner's inquest into the death of Howard Hyde, a mentally ill man who died in police custody after being subdued with a stun gun, is setting a precedent in that province by broadcasting the proceedings.

John Piccolo, a spokesman with the Nova Scotia judiciary, said broadcasting these events allows the community an opportunity to hear all of the facts.

"In effect what we are doing is using technology to reinforce the principal of open courts," Piccolo said.