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APRIL 12, 2016 | Volume 29 No. 44
A MATCH MADE IN THE KITCHEN
FATAL CRASH TODAY’S WEATHER Sunny High 17 C Low 5 C
One dead, one critically injured in weekend accident
TRU, Earls cooking up a palatable partnership
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A2
Inquest begins into 2014 death at Royal Inland
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TIM PETRUK
andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
ANDREA KLASSEN
STAFF REPORTER
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
An expert on police use of force is among 31 witnesses expected to testify in a coroner’s inquest this week into the June 2014 death of an 18-yearold mental-health patient who was Tasered by Mounties before plunging three storeys off a parking garage at Royal Inland Hospital. A five-person coroner’s jury is hearing evidence about the death of Jacob George Setah, who died on June 11, 2014. Setah was an involuntary psychiatric patient at RIH at the time of his death. Coroner counsel Rod MacKenzie told jurors yesterday that Setah, from the Williams Lake area, smashed a window and escaped from the secure mental-health ward in which he was receiving treatment. Police were called and officers spoke with Setah on the third level of the hospital’s parking garage for about 40 minutes, according to an Independent Investigations Office (IIO) report released last year. That report said police Tasered Setah out of concern he might jump off the parking garage. A struggle ensued and Setah broke free, the report stated, running over the edge of the garage. The IIO exonerated Kamloops Mounties of any wrongdoing. Taking the witness stand on Monday was Dr. Bamidele Olabiyi, a psychiatrist who was working on call at Royal Inland Hospital when Setah was admitted four days before his death. Olabiyi said his initial diagnosis of Setah was psychosis — including auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions and bizarre behaviour — and substance-misuse disorder. Olabiyi called Setah’s use of marijuana “remarkable” and said it could have been a contributing
HOUSING STARTS SOAR
GORDON GORE PHOTO
Oscar and Oprah are busy rebuilding their nest from scratch. The majestic ospreys can be seen at The Dunes at Kamloops Golf Course in Westsyde.
Another chance to comment on the proposed Ajax copper and gold mine has passed. A 75-day public-comment period on the proposed mine’s environmental-assessment application closed last night, with more than 1,800 submissions from individuals, community groups and local governments logged. Members of the public won’t be able to weigh in on the proposed mine again until staff at the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) publishes its final conclusions on Ajax’s effects. “The comprehensive study report includes the agency’s conclusions and recommendations regarding the implementation of mitigation measures and whether or not the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects,” a federal environment department spokesperson told KTW. Public comments are generally taken on the report for 30 days, after which it will be forwarded to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. The same level of access isn’t available on the provincial side of the Ajax review. Members of the public won’t be able to comment on — or see — a similar report to ministers published by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office until politicians in Victoria have made their decision on Ajax’s future. Tracey James, project assessment manager with the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) said the report only becomes available once a decision has been made on whether to give the mine its environmental certificate. With comments now closed, James said KGHM Ajax’s next step will be to respond to concerns raised by the public. While a number of the submissions focus on whether the mine should or should not go ahead, James said the focus is on the issues and potential effects of the project. “That’s what we’re really looking for in the public comments.” See PROVINCIAL, A4
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