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Sinclair inquest should be an inquiry: family

By: Kevin Rollason

9/02/2010 3:23 AM | Comments: 51

Robert Sinclair holds a portrait of his cousin, Brian Sinclair, who died in September 2008, after waiting 34 hours in the emergency room of the Health Sciences Centre.

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Robert Sinclair holds a portrait of his cousin, Brian Sinclair, who died in September 2008, after waiting 34 hours in the emergency room of the Health Sciences Centre. (WAYNE.GLOWACKI@FREEPRESS.MB.CA )

WINNIPEG — The family of Brian Sinclair is asking the province to change the inquest looking into his death at the Health Science Centre’s emergency room into a public inquiry.

Robert Sinclair, the man’s cousin, said the family wants to make sure his death was not in vain.

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Sinclair, a homeless and disabled aboriginal man, died in Sept. 2008, after waiting 34 hours in the emergency room of the Health Sciences Centre.

"We cannot sit idly by while the kind of indifference that happened to Brian keeps happening to others," he said.

The family’s lawyer Vilko Zbogar, said the inquiry should have the "same spirit of courage, compassion and audacity that led to the establishment to the aboriginal justice inquiry."

Earlier today, Provincial Court Judge Ray Wyant said in a ruling that the provincial government and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority should pay more money for the legal expenses of Sinclair's family in an upcoming inquest looking into his death.

The legal aid rate which the government has offered to the family to date is inadequate for their participation in an inquest that will be lengthy and complicated, Wyant said.

Instead, he said, Sinclair's family should be allowed to hire one senior lawyer, at a rate of $210 per hour for a maximum of nine hours per day. If the family hired a lawyer from Toronto, meals and accommodation and travel expenses would not be paid.

Wyant said while his decision is not binding on the government and WRHA, he hopes it will be followed.

In a brief statement outside the Law Courts, the Sinclair family's lawyer, Vilko Zbogar, of Toronto, said Wyant's decision vindicates what the family has said all along.

"The arbitrary cap (on legal fees) is seriously inadequate," Zbogar said.

"It's only fair for Robert Sinclair and his family to have the same access to this proceeding as the WRHA. The family hopes the WRHA and the government of Manitoba will do the worthy thing and abide by the judge's suggestion."

Justice Minister Andrew Swan said the province still study Wyant’s decision before making a decision on how much it should pay the Sinclair family and their legal team.

"We had made some proposals on money," Swan said. "(Wyant’s recommendation) is more than we had offered. We’re going to sit down and look at whether it’s reasonable balancing the need for the Sinclair family to be part of this, but at the same time protecting the taxpayers of Manitoba."

Swan also said the province is also looking at policy for the fair payment for lawyers of families granted standing at inquests. Currently, it handles such matters on a case-by-case basis.

The idea of such a policy was raised almost a decade ago following a lengthy inquest into pediatric cardiac surgery. The inquest examined the deaths of a dozen children, mainly infants, during or after botched open-heart surgery at Health Sciences Centre in 1994.

Swan said the province followed the compensation guidelines of Saskatchewan and Ontario in coming up with its original offer to the Sinclairs and their lawyers.

"Even if we had a policy in place . . . I’m not sure that we’d be any further ahead than we are at this moment with the media coming to my office to talk about this," he said.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

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51 Commentscomment icon

SnowDog456:

"Pegger, I suppose you didn't move out of your parent's home until you were married?"

Ummm. . .how did you get THAT out of my post??

SnowDog 456:

"People make fun of people aged 30, even aged 20 who still live with parents, and here you are saying the family is derelict in their duty because they let their child move out on his own in middle age."

Ummm. . .again, HUH?? What I said was, "Maybe if one of them would have gone to / stayed with him at the hospital that night (like I do when my husband, kids, or even a friend or neighbour is sick), none of this would be happening right now."

To be clear, I WAS NOT saying they were derelict in letting him move out at middle age. I was TRYING to say that EVEN THOUGH I DON'T LIVE WITH THEM (get it?? I moved out a long time ago??), I would have driven my husband/children/friends/neighbours to the hospital and even STAYED with them, if they needed help.

SnowDog456:

"I was in a similar situation to Sinclair a few months earlier. But I lived. Not because I received better care due to being Caucasian -- the triage nurses were just as unreceptive of me as they were of Sinclair. But because my body sufficiently defeated the infection on its own after 4 hours so I could go home and treat myself."

Well, I guess you didn't need emergency care after all. People who don't shouldn't back the system up for the rest of us.

It’s important for people to remember that Sinclair frequented the Emergency waiting room at the HSC (as many other marginalize people in the area do) in order to get out of the cold and stay warm or rest. The staff, instead of kicking these people back out into the street or calling the police, tolerate them staying inside as long as they’re not disruptive.

Unfortunately on this particular occasion Sinclair was in need of assistance and not simply getting shelter or rest. Did he properly alert the staff or did the staff neglect him? Hopefully this is what the inquiry will tell us.

I agree that the family’s action seems motivated by something other than a quest for justice. The reality is that this legal battle will involve a lot of time, money and effort from the family. I find it difficult to believe that they would have (or did) invest as much on Sinclair’s behalf while he was still living.

For anyone to claim that this case is not necessarily influenced by race or politics, for better or worse, is naïve.

@JJay
"If this is for the safety of the public why would the lawyer not volunteer his time and do it out of the goodness of his heart?"

Police's job is for the safety of the public, should they all work for free too?

@JJay----that lawyer doesn't volunteer his time for the same reason that the WRHA's lawyers don't volunteer their time.

SnowDog456,
You mention that I am prejudice and abusive with my comment; abusive, maybe, I can see how it may have offended people. But prejudice, not at all. It's actually a little ironic that you call me prejudice since you are assuming a lot about me that isn't true. I mention NOTHING about race in my comment. I honestly don't care what race or religion Mr. Sinclair was.
I would never assume a native man was a substance abuser because I've seen him have a drink, but Mr. Sinclair WAS a substance abuser. He is at fault for the way his life turned out. White, black, native, or Asian. Also just thought I'd mention that I am native, card carrying anishinabe, if that actually matters to you.
You also mention you were treated just like Sinclair (even though you're caucasian) but some how lived to tell. Two things bug me about that comment, one- you were not treated the same, he was a return visitor who the staff saw as a man who just needed a place to sleep. And two- it took 4 hours for your body to defeat infection? Either it was very minor, ie. waste of the ER's time, which could explain why the triage nurse was unreceptive and why you had to wait 4 hours, or you are lying. Any serious infection requiring an ER would take much longer than 4 hours to defeat on your own.
I may not have the vast education you do Snowdog, but I also lack your ignorance and the prejudice you spew towards others.

If this is for the safety of the public why would the lawyer not volunteer his time and do it out of the goodness of his heart?

Wow, how cold and heartless alot of these comments are. No wonder the province removed its name as 'Friendly Manitoba" As for the family not showing up, he was homeless, his choice to lead that life. And yes, where were they (the family)? If he was a member of my family, I would do everything humanly possible to try to get help or at least a warm bed at night. I would not be able to sleep at night if he was a member of my family living like that.

People keep calling Sinclair homeless, where was his family when he was alive and homeless they say.

It has been reported that he had a home he was living in. He lived alone in a rooming house. Lots of people live alone. And if you watch old movies, you'll see that living in a rooming house used to be popular even amongst the upper-middle class.

Living on the street is homeless. Sinclair was not homeless.

The WFP needs to point that out.

Other posters have pointed out that not one family member came in the 34 hours Sinclair was in the hospital.

Did the hospital phone a family member to come?

No they didn't.

And what would the family have done? They can't change catheters, they can't prescribe antibiotics.

I suppose they could have held his hand while he died. But that is all.

Pegger, I suppose you didn't move out of your parent's home until you were married?

People make fun of people aged 30, even aged 20 who still live with their parents, and here you are saying the family is derelict in their duty because they let their child move out on his own in middle age.

Single adults typically live on their own. When we get sick we go to the hospital on our own. We aren't small children.

Do not blame our families when we sit in hospital waiting rooms for 4, 8, 24 or 36 hours while triage nurses ignore our situation, who ignore our complaints of feeling worse, or having been sent by our doctors.

I was in a similar situation to Sinclair a few months earlier. But I lived. Not because I received better care due to being Caucasian -- the triage nurses were just as unreceptive of me as they were of Sinclair. But because my body sufficiently defeated the infection on its own after 4 hours so I could go home and treat myself.

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