UP-DATE; REFORMS TO CORONER'S SYSTEM IN ONTARIO; MCGUINTY GOVERNMENT SAYS GOAL IS TO STRENGTHEN DEATH INVESTIGATIONS;

The Ontario government says it's reforms, announced yesterday today, are aimed at achieving "A Stronger, More Accountable Coroners System."

The press release runs under the heading, "McGuinty Government Takes Next Step In Coroners System Overhaul."

"Ontario will soon have a more responsive, more accountable death investigation system in with the passage today of the Coroners Amendment Act, 2009," the release begins;

"Passed today by the Ontario legislature, the Coroners Amendment Act, 2009, addresses the recommended legislative amendments in the report of the Honourable Justice Stephen Goudge's Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario," it continues;

"When the new law comes into effect following royal assent, it will establish a framework to strengthen the death investigation system in Ontario. Provisions of the new legislation include:

0: The establishment of an oversight council for Ontario's death investigation system;

0: An improved complaints system under the oversight council;

0: The establishment of an Ontario Forensic Pathology Service;

0: A registry of pathologists authorized to conduct coroner's autopsies in Ontario
Improved death investigation services to northern and First Nations communities."

The release notes that Ontario's coroners investigate approximately 20,000 deaths every year, that approximately 7,000 of those investigations require a post-mortem examination by a pathologist, and that the Coroners Act has not been significantly updated since the 1970s.

harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;