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BY TIM JAQUESCampbellton - Campbellton u Deborah Harquail, the articulate family spokesperson who worked hard to get an inquest into the 2005 death of her sister Leona, has mixed feelings about the process and the recommendations when speaking to the media after proceedings closed on April 30.

Enlarge Photo

Tim Jaques/Tribune

Colleen Petersen, centre, and her sister Deborah Harquail speak to CBC reporter Andy Wilson after the inquest into the death of their sister Leona Harquail. Colleen was generally satisfied with the result. Deborah, while finding good things to say about the process, was still unhappy that certain evidence did not come to light.

Leona Harquail was found dead in a Campbellton apartment in January 2005, a day after leaving the ADDU (alcohol and drug dependency unit) of the Restigouche Health Authority.

"In general, I can't say that I'm not pleased with some of the recommendations. I am absolutely pleased with that. Although my sister was an addict, there was no evidence found that proved that she was abusing prescription programs and doctor's prescriptions to access drugs so this inquest will be used to promote a program that the government is already in the process of implementing which is ‘one patient, one record'. It is not as if the ‘one patient, one record' is coming about as a result of this inquest but it is something they might use to promote it," she said.

"I didn't feel that there were enough recommendations for dealing with families who have to access the RCMP for services. I felt that there should have been stronger recommendations in that area."

Deborah Harquail said that the inquest did give her some closure, in the sense that "until this inquest I was still in a mode of still looking for her, still looking for Leona."

However, she was not satisfied with all that had happened. She said that while the coroner's inquest is to "expose evidence and make sure that no facts were concealed", there were still questions that went unanswered. She said that the day her sister's body was taken for investigation a "sloppy job" was done. She also said that a witness had testified that two people had been brought to the RCMP station for questioning but the inquest only had the statement of one person and that the RCMP said there was no other person. She also expressed her view that it was not appropriate to use a local Crown Prosecutor as the crown lawyer in the proceedings, and that another Crown Prosecutor from another area should have been brought in.

"The jury was not provided with all the working tools they should have had provided to them such as request for expert witnesses other than the witnesses that the Crown brought in, but they were not made aware of that opportunity. As well, there were times when the witnesses were being led during this inquiry in their testimony. Because of that, I believe there is a lot of evidence still to be uncovered. I still don't know how my sister got in the middle of a highway on Jan. 6…they say that she was offered medical assistance but we have no evidence of that. None was provided. The witness who picked her up was excluded. There were RCMP officers excluded from testimony as well, so there are a number of concerns that I have that have made me frustrated about the entire process and I think that even that might have had an impact on the inquiry because I got so emotional and so frustrated when I felt that things weren't being handled like they should have been according to certain protocol."

Nonetheless, she did feel that something good will come of the inquest.

"I don't feel that it has been entirely useless. A lot of use will come from it. It's OK for a jury in an inquest to make recommendations. That's fine, if the government actually acts on the recommendations and implements programs and services in the community for people suffering from ‘concurrent disorders'…If they actually implement the recommendations, then we should see some changes in place for people suffering from concurrent illnesses."

Her sister, Colleen Peterson, however, had fewer misgivings. After the jury had given its recommendations, she stood up and gave an emotional response thanking them. Afterwards, speaking to the media, she was quick to see good coming out of the process.

"I feel positive. This inquest was brought on by Debbie, but it was also to find out how they could improve the system. The important thing is that there will now be — and I pray — that there will not be another case like Leona's where the family requests help and they are ignored. Just because they picked up ten times, twelve times, do we all stop caring?" she asked.

She, too, said that she got some closure from the proceedings.

"It is a traumatic event in itself. I want peaceful things, instead of anger inside."