INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES FOR DECEASED CLIENTS
On behalf of the Department of Justice, Office of the Chief Coroner would like to convey our deepest sympathy for your loss.
The Office of the Chief Coroner would like to assist you and your family members during loss of your loved ones. Therefore the Coroner’s Office put this information to assist you during this difficult time.
The Nunavut Coroner’s Service is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death to determine the cause and manner of death within the Nunavut territory, where the death occurred.
Upon completion of the investigation, the Coroner authorizes the Health care professional and/or RCMP Officers to release the body from the hospital morgue to family members. You as the immediate family member should contact Mr. Jaffar( Jake) Gebara at 222-0585 or 979-6606 for information on funeral arrangement of your loved ones.
In the event that Mr. Gebara does not respond to you within twenty- four (24) hours, please call his assistant Mr. Joe Fergus at 222-2856 for further assistance.
The family members should contact Mr. Gebara or Mr. Fergus to make an arrangement for viewing at the Hospital Morgue and to pay your respect to the loved ones. Mr. Gebara or Mr. Fergus will make these arrangements for you. If you wish to transport the remains of your loved one from Iqaluit to any other community for burial, you will have to contact Mr. Gebara or Mr. Fergus to make those arrangements for shipping as per your request.
When a Coroner deems it necessary to order an autopsy to determine the cause of death, the Coroner’s Office will cover all the expenses including the shipment of the remains before and after the autopsy to a southern jurisdiction. After the autopsy, the funeral director from Ottawa, ON will contact you the next of kin to make further arrangements for burial (ex. clothing and casket). Coroner’s Office is not responsible for the cost of the casket and clothing for the deceased. If the next of kin or other family and friends are unable to cover the costs for these items, please contact family services or income support service for assistance. One of the Funeral home staff will be in contact the next of kin directly to inform you of WHEN and HOW your love one is arriving to the community for further arrangements.
If you have any further inquiries or concerns with this process, please do not hesitate to contact our office at (867) 975- 6562, (867) 975-6318, or 1-877-778-1022.
Thanking you in anticipation
The Office of the Chief Coroner
Iqaluit, Nunavut Territory.
EXHUMATION
The only time that a Coroner will become involved in an exhumation, is when the death is a reported Coroner’s case. This will be a rare event and is to be only conducted when the exhumation will further the investigation.
SEE: Coroners Act, Section 15
- An order of exhumation will be issued by either the Minister or the Chief Coroner.
- If an investigation requires exhumation, the Coroner with jurisdiction, will contact the Chief Coroner and receive authorization.
- The next-of-kin and the person in charge of the cemetery, are to be notified seventy-two hours in advance of the exhumation.
Overview of the Coroner Service
The Coroner Service is a network of Coroners located throughout the country.
A Coroner is medical-legal death investigator appointed by the Minister of Justice upon recommendations from the Chief Coroner.
The Coroners’ core function is to investigate all sudden, unnatural, unexpected, unattended and unexplained deaths in the Territory. This is an important public service to the living and in particular to the next-of-kin and friends of the deceased.
The Coroner is responsible for ascertaining the facts surrounding a death and must determine:
- The identity of the deceased
- How, when, where and by what means the deceased came to their death.
Each death is then classified as Natural, Accidental, Suicide, Homicide or Undetermined.
The Coroner Service not only provides closure for those bereaved suddenly but also performs a wider public service by identifying matters of public interest that can have life and death consequences.
The Coroner can also make recommendations to help improve public safety and prevent future deaths in similar circumstances.
The Coroner Service is a fact finding, not a fault finding agency that provides an independent service to the families, communities, government agencies and other organizations.
"We speak for the dead to protect the living"
The Office of the Chief Coroner for Nunavut serves the living through quality death investigations and inquests to ensure that no death will be overlooked, concealed or ignored. The findings are used to generate recommendations to help improve public safety and prevent deaths in similar circumstances in future.
You may contact us at:
Office of the Chief Coroner
PO Box 1000; Station 590
Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 0H0
Toll Free # 1 - 844-778-1022
Telephone: (867) 975-6562 Fax: (867) 975-6367
Cell: (867) 222-9472
