Kimberly Rogers Inquest Alerts

Welfare fraud policies get stern rebuke at inquest
Woman's house arrest questioned
Heat suggested as cause of suicide


by Kate Harries
Ontario Reporter
The Toronto Star
Nov. 21, 2002. 01:00 AM

SUDBURY — Despite repeated objections from government lawyers and lengthy arguments in the absence of the jury, Ontario's policies on house arrest and welfare fraud got a stinging indictment yesterday.

Dr. Isaac Sakinofsky, professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and an eminent suicide specialist, told an inquest that Kimberly Rogers may have been pushed to suicide by the heat in her apartment, where she was serving a six-month sentence.

The coroner's inquest was told that temperatures probably soared above 40 C in the small apartment where Rogers died from an overdose of anti-depressants in August, 2001.

"Jails have to be inspected to make sure that they are fit for the prisoners," Sakinofsky said. "Jails are air-conditioned."

Rogers, in the eighth month of her pregnancy, would have suffered and been very uncomfortable, he said, adding that the heat "could even have been a trigger" for suicide.

Sakinofsky also urged that:

Even if people are cut off financial assistance, they not be left in a situation where they cannot get needed medication. An automatic three-month suspension of benefits for welfare fraud included cancellation of Rogers' drug card. "This is a draconian element, very harsh, cruel and unthinking element."

Before sentencing in cases of welfare fraud, there be an automatic referral for a psychiatric assessment because of the "catastrophic effect" of what is now a lifetime ban on benefits.

Special care be taken with pregnant women and single mothers on social assistance. One study found that 50 per cent suffer from depression, compared to 5 per cent in the general population.

Social assistance rates be based on actual costs. The inquest has heard that the government's $325 shelter allowance falls well short of the average rent of a one-bedroom apartment in Sudbury, while a local health unit study estimated minimum food costs for a single woman at $100 a month, more if pregnant or breast-feeding. Rogers had $18 a month left out of her $520 benefit after paying rent and restitution.

Both lawyer Brian Whitehead, of the public safety and security ministry, and Lynne McArdle, representing the attorney-general's ministry, attempted to curtail Sakinofsky's evidence.

The inquest continues today.