Faqiri family demands apology for Ontario's 'inaction' on inquest

After seven painful years spent calling for accountability, Soleiman Faqiri's family hoped that by now, the province of Ontario would have acted on at least one of the recommendations issued in the inquest into his death at the hands of jail guards.

Instead, they say, there's been radio silence.

In December, a coroner's inquest confirmed what family insisted on all along: that Faqiri's 2016 death at the Central East Correctional Centre was indeed a homicide. Along with that finding came 57 separate recommendations from the coroner's jury — all aimed at preventing anyone with mental illness from dying at an Ontario jail again. 

But five months on, the province won't say if it will act on any of those recommendations, including to release a public statement recognizing jails are not an appropriate environment for those with significant mental health issues — something the jury at the coroner's inquest said should be done within 60 days. You can find the full list here.

Asked about the province's response, Howard Sapers, a former federal correctional investigator and former Ontario independent adviser on correctional reform, was blunt. 

"The lack of action is inexcusable," Sapers said.  

Faqiri's family agrees and is now demanding an apology from the provincial government, not only for his death, but the government's inaction on the jury's recommendations.

The family held a news conference Thursday morning at Queen's Park, joined by Opposition NDP critic for the attorney general Kristyn Wong-Tam, to call on Premier Doug Ford to respond. 

"We want to call out the government for their inaction and their indifference to the lives of the mentally ill," Faqiri's brother, Yusuf, told CBC News. "They're under the expectation, outrageously, that this case will go away. This case will not go away."

Faqiri's mother put it more bluntly.

"They've done nothing. The system has remained the same. Nothing's changed," said Maryam Faqiri. "The truth came out, they killed my son ... And they haven't even said my son's name publicly."

On Wednesday, Wong-Tam tabled a private members' bill in the legislature called the Justice for Soli Act (Stop Criminalizing Mental Health).

The bill would see the provincial government formally recognize that "a correctional facility is not an appropriate environment for a person experiencing a mental health crisis" and "mental illness requires health care and should not be criminalized."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General told CBC News only that it is "continuing to carefully review the inquest recommendations and will respond to the Office of the Chief Coroner directly." Asked how much longer that review will take, the ministry didn't respond.