Inquest begins into long term care

An inquiry into long term care began in St. Thomas Ontario, after a serial killer was caught.

Inquiry Commissioner Justice Eileen Gillese got somewhat emotional as the inquiry got underway a live stream of the proceedings is available to the public.

Elizabeth Wettlaufer pleaded guilty to killing eight people and harming several others and is serving a life sentence. She will not be testifying at the inquiry but her statements will be used as evidence. If she hadn’t confessed her crimes would likely never have been discovered, the inquiry heard. What failings of the system allowed her to do this, the Commissioner asked and what can the system do to prevent it from happening again.

The inquiry will be heard for a total of 10 weeks between June and September, but the final report isn’t expected until next July, 2019. Although one week of expert evidence will be heard in Toronto the Commissioner said she wanted most of the evidence to come out here in St. Thomas where the people most affected by Elizabeth Wettlaufer’s crimes would be able to attend.

Lawyers involved represent families, long term care facilities, nurses associations, the college of nurses, and the Health Ministry among others. Gillese says the hearings are about being heard and healing broken trust in the long term care system.