Coalition Against Family Violence calls for death review panel
Panel would look at family violence deaths and circumstances that led to them
An N.W.T. advocacy group says it should be more than just the police and the coroner who investigate deaths due to family violence in the territory.
The Coalition Against Family Violence wants the territory to create a death review panel to look at family violence deaths and the circumstances that led to them.
The coalition says a death review panel would be separate from a standard coroners report. It would review the responses of agencies and organizations that came into contact with the perpetrator and victim with a focus on prevention and accountability, identifying contributing factors and gaps.
"It would be beneficial to have a group of people, experts, looking at deaths that occur in the Northwest Territories, where you'd have nurses and the coroner and police and all different folks who work in that area all the time, because I think it would lead us to some of the gaps," said Lorraine Phaneuf, executive director of the Status of Women Council of the N.W.T., one of the coalition's members.
"It would bring us to links on how we can prevent further deaths."
The coalition presented a list of recommendations to Northwest Territories MLAs today.