Interesting Case From Ontario - Farm Workers Denied Coroners Inquest

In Peart v the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ("HRTO") considered whether the Coroner's Act was discriminatory against migrant farm workers.

Ned Peart, a seasonal worker from Jamaica employed under the Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program ("SAWP"), was tragically crushed to death by a 1,000 pound steel bin which he was attempting to move.  Despite multiple requests, the Office of the Chief Coroner refused to hold an inquest into the death.

The Coroner's Act appoints physicians with the mandate to conduct investigations and preside over inquests in the public interest. A formal inquest does not occur into every death. Section 10 (5) of the Coroner's Act requires a mandatory inquest in circumstances involving the accidental death of a worker at or in a construction project, mining plant or mine. The Applicant commenced the complaint with the OHRT arguing that section 10 (5) of the Coroner's Act discriminated