British Columbia’s Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe has announced she is leaving her post after 13 years, deeply saddened the province has been unable to reduce the "tragic impacts" of toxic drugs on thousands of people.
Lapointe says in a statement today the coroners service has been forever altered by the public health emergency that continues to take the lives of people of all ages in communities throughout BC, including more than 2,000 people so far this year.
Lapointe says recommendations by coroners service death−review panels, including providing a safe supply of drugs without prescription, are needed to end the overdose crisis, but she was "unable to influence the essential change necessary" to do so.
The BC government rejected the recommendations last month, minutes before Lapointe was set to deliver a report on them at a news conference.
Lapointe, whose third term ends with her retirement on Feb. 18, 2024, says she’s had the honour of serving the people of BC for the past 30 years.
She says the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General will initiate a recruitment process to choose her successor.
"Like so many others, our agency has been forever altered by the toxic-drug public health emergency that continues to take the lives of people of all ages in communities throughout BC, and it deeply saddens me that we have been unable to influence the essential change necessary to reduce the tragic impacts of toxic drugs on so many thousands of our family members, friends and colleagues across the province," her statement reads.
She adds: ""The work of a coroner is a challenging one, investigating the circumstances of deaths to provide information and assistance to families and communities devastated by the sudden loss of their loved ones.
"For every tragic loss, the coroner must consider whether there is an opportunity to prevent similar deaths in the future. In this way, the role of the coroner, which may seem a bleak one, provides an opportunity to advance meaningful change. This is the most silver of linings in often very dark clouds."
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
