The sister of a drug researcher, who killed himself after being fired as part of a flawed Health Ministry investigation says her brother’s suicide note was deleted before it was returned by the B.C. Coroners Service.
However, the Island’s regional coroner is confident that neither the coroners office nor the police officer tasked with opening the password-protected computer deleted anything.
It’s the latest twist in the Health Ministry firings saga that has prompted calls for a public inquiry. On Tuesday night, the family of Roderick MacIsaac was left with more questions.
›› DOWNLOAD a PDF of Linda Kayfish's letter to the premier
MacIsaac, a PhD student on a co-op term with the Health Ministry, killed himself in December 2012, three months after being fired with seven others amid allegations of health-data mismangement and breaches. The provincial government has since apologized for his firing and made settlements with most of the others.
MacIsaac, 46, died from carbon monoxide poisoning by running a gas-powered generator in his small Saanich suite.
On his laptop was a one-page document — what sister Linda Kayfish calls his “suicide note.”
MacIsaac’s last recorded computer access was late Dec. 7, 2012, according to a coroner’s report. He was working on a document “relating to the events that were causing him significant stress,” the report said. The laptop was seized by the B.C. Coroners Service as part of its investigation into MacIsaac’s death.
A person from the coroners service read the document to Kayfish and her husband, Doug, in June 2013. Letters of the alphabet were substituted for the people named in the document.
Vancouver Island regional coroner Matthew Brown said the document was evidence and a printed copy could not be shared, but that the family could have the electronic file following the investigation.
The coroners service returned the laptop in October 2013. The Kayfishes said the document was missing and it took going through deleted emails on the laptop’s hard drive to retrieve it.
In an interview, Brown said he spoke with the police officer who examined the password-protected laptop.
“I feel confident in saying the coroner did not delete it, nor did the police delete it at any point, nor would they be asked to, nor would they do that in the course of their investigation,” Brown said. “Was it hidden behind a wall of some sort. Was it not available at first glance? Maybe.”
In the document, MacIsaac wrote that he was frustrated that high-level managers accused of mishandling and wrongly awarding contracts were conducting the investigation that led to his firing, said Doug Kayfish. MacIsaac named names.
MacIsaac also wrote that there were no substantive allegations against him or the other seven, Linda Kayfish said in an interview.
On Tuesday, in an open letter to Premier Christy Clark, Kayfish questioned whether the government, through the coroners service, deleted the document.
“Imagine our disappointment. A man’s last words, meant to be read by family and friends regarding his abrupt departure, were no longer available. …
“In my view, Roderick would have wanted those reviewing the matter to see it and for his family to have it,” Kayfish wrote.
The suppression of MacIsaac’s document points to the need for a public inquiry, she wrote.
“It is part of a continuing pattern to cover up mistakes and actions by the powerful, while exposing those, such as Roderick, to the full force of government power,” Kayfish said in her letter. “Rod had rights, they were not respected and continue to be disrespected after his death.”
An all-party legislative committee is scheduled today to ask provincial ombudsperson Jay Chalke to investigate the health firings scandal.
Chalke has already penned his thoughts in a detailed letter to be presented to committee members at this morning’s meeting.
