Part Seven: Interrogation of An Innocent Mother: Inspector Keetch's Heart-felt Apology;

"SO, YOU KNOW, IT WAS, KIND OF, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO APOLOGIZE FOR,
KIND OF, WHAT I HAD PUT THEM THROUGH; MY ACTIONS.

AND, YOU KNOW, IT WASN'T NECESSARILY CONDONED ON BEHALF OF THE POLICE SERVICE. I WAS NEVER ASKED TO DO THIS.

I JUST MADE A DECISION INDIVIDUALLY THAT I WANTED TO GO AND APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT THE FAMILY HAD BEEN PUT THROUGH."

INSPECTOR ROBERT KEETCH IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION POSED BY COMMISSION COUNSEL MARK SANDLER;

During the course of his testimony at the Goudge Inquiry, Commission Counsel Mark Sandler asked Detective Sergeant (Now Inspector) Robert Keetch about a personal apology he (Keetch) had made to Maurice Gagnon, Lianne's father.

(Sandler told Keetch that the apology had been, "very well received and appreciated" by Mr. Gagnon);

Here is Keetch's reply:

"There was ongoing correspondence between Maurice and myself relative to the investigation right from, you know, right
throughout it, and it was -- I can't give you the exact date, but it was the Christmas prior to my being transferred back to uniform.

And I'd been reading a lot of the correspondence in the news relative to Dr. Smith and had, kind of, come to a realization in my own mind that Lianne wasn't responsible for Nicholas' death or there was no -- you know, nothing to medically support that belief.

And, you know, I kind of harboured a lot of guilt in relation to what I had done, I guess, on behalf of the police service to that family, in relation
to the investigation.

The fact that we had, you know, done a disinterment, done a second autopsy, done an
interrogation of -- of Lianne.

And, you know, kind of, throughout that time frame, until Dr. Smith's opinions and reputation began to crumble, kind of, maintained that belief that Lianne was responsible for Nicholas' death.

So when I, kind of, resolved in my mind that there was no basis to form that opinion, I called Maurice.

And he had always extended a willingness to sit and discuss the case with me because I think he was, kind of, equally interested, as interested as I was in, you know, kind of, finding out what had happened to Nicholas and why he had died on that particular day.

So this -- I'm -- kind of armed with that information, I met Maurice and the two (2) of us, kind of, sat and had coffee just before Christmas at a local Tim Hortons and, you know, kind of spent a couple of hours going over the investigation; my apologizing.

And I mean, Maurice probably has one (1) of the best understandings of Dr. Smith and, kind of, the investigations that are subject to this Inquiry and he, kind of, updated me in relation to that.

So, you know, it was, kind of, an opportunity for me to apologize for,
kind of, what I had put them through; my actions.

And, you know, it wasn't necessarily condoned on behalf of the police service. I was never asked to do this.

I just made a decision individually that I wanted to go and apologize for what the family had been put through.

Inspector Keetch's apology has the ring of true feeling and humanity.

It is so different from the so-called apology for certain undefined errors made by Dr. Charles Smith through his lawyer at the outset of the Inquiry.

Inspector Keetch did not express his apology impersonally through a lawyer or wait until the Inquiry began.

He sought out Maurice Gagnon as an individual - and not as a police officer - and not on behalf of the force.

He had clearly agonized over the effect his investigation had on the Gagnon family and was trying to learn as much as he could from the experience.

Perhaps I have an apology to make to Inspector Keetch and other members of his force who investigated Nicholas' sudden death.

While I have been deservedly critical of some of their investigative techniques, there is no suggestion that they did not truly believe - once the Chief Coroner's Office and Dr. Smith got into the act - that Lianne was responsible for Nicholas' death.

I should have acknowledged that.

The reality is that in 1995, Dr. Charles Smith was still Dr. Charles Randal Smith, the internationally renowned "forensic" pathologist - Director of the prestigious Ontario Forensic Pediatric Pathology Unit at the famed Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto - and he knew more about children's death's than anyone else.

If that wasn't enough, to Keetch and his fellow officers it was apparent that Smith's opinion was backed up by the top brass in the Chief Coroner's Office .

To be fair, Inspector Keetch and his colleagues didn't know - as we know conclusively today, that the Emperor had no clothes."

One final point.

There was one person who knew about the 1991 Timmins case and other cases bungled by Smith and tried to get then Chief Coroner Dr. James Young and top officials of the Harris government - including former Premier Mike Harris himself - but no one would listen.

That person was Maurice Gagnon.

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com.