Health researchers reject province’s call for ombudsperson’s investigation

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Those affected by the health firings scandal have written a letter to the finance committee asking its members to decline the health minister’s request for an ombudsperson’s investigation into the 2012 firings.

Roderick MacIsaac’s sister Linda Kayfish feels an ombudsperson’s investigation won’t give her the answers she’s looking for.

“For me this goes on and on,” says Kayfish. “Every time I open up a paper there’s a new question I have to ask.”

MacIsaac killed himself after he was fired just days before completing the work term needed to complete his Ph.D.

“We just don’t see the [ombudsperson] getting to the ‘why,’,” says Kayfish. “There are places he can’t go. He can’t compel certain people to speak.”

Health Minister Terry Lake has been pushing for this alternative to a public inquiry into the handling of the firings of eight workers in 2012 because it would be cheaper and faster.

The province has apologized for the firings and come to settlements with some of the affected workers, but that didn’t come soon enough for MacIsaac. He killed himself in the weeks following his dismissal by turning on a gas generator in his Victoria apartment and allowing himself to be overcome by the fumes.

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