BC chief coroner announces independent inquest into Tumbler Ridge shooting

NEW WESTMINSTER — At a March 3 news conference in Victoria, Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, British Columbia’s chief coroner, announced there will be an “independent inquest” into the February 10 mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge.Speaking to reporters, BC's chief coroner said the independent's inquest will delve into the circumstances surrounding each death, drawing on police findings and expert testimony to produce fact-based recommendations aimed at preventing future tragedies.The process, he emphasized, will be open to the public and unconstrained by narrow terms, allowing exploration of events predating the incident by years if relevant."This will be an independent process," Baidwan told reporters in Vancouver. "We deal in facts, and we'll have experts there to discuss the facts."The announcement comes amid calls from the BC Conservatives, amongst others, for a full public inquiry, arguing it would yield more information than a coroner's inquest. The BC chief coroner pushed back, asserting the inquest's scope is "as wide as you want them to be" and that it would cover all pertinent issues without necessitating a separate probe, which falls under the premier's purview..Media questions highlighted public concerns, particularly around emerging details of the shooter's interactions with AI tools like ChatGPT.One reporter pressed the coroner on whether transcripts of those exchanges would be made public, as alluded to by Premier David Eby last week. Baidwan declined to pledge specifics but said all evidence presented at the inquest would be accessible."We are there as a public institution, and our mandate is to do exactly this kind of work," he said. "Anything that occurs in the inquest is open to the public."A key exchange focused on gender diversity, with Canadian Press reporter Wolfgang Depner asking the coroner to expand on his mention of investigating related matters. Dr. Baidwan said the topic arose from public concerns and would be fully examined if it emerges as relevant to the circumstances of the deaths."I'm afraid I can't do that because that's dependent upon the facts that we glean during our investigation," she said. "If gender diversity was an issue then it will be examined in a fulsome fashion."The chief coroner notably added that he has no timeline on when the independent inquest will begin or how long it will take.