Career Options
Dr. James YoungIt's a balancing act that would rattle the best of trapeze artists. And while in the circus, the trapeze artist may fear for his safety alone, in this case, the safety of the entire province is at stake. |
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 [ 2002-07-10 ] |
"I think we have a culture in Ontario where people realize (inquests) are a good way to improve things," says Dr. James Young, chief coroner of Ontario.
It's the demanding, high-pressure role of the chief coroner of Ontario, and Dr. James Young is giving the province a stellar performance.
"I have to balance the public's need to know versus the privacy of the family. I have to balance which particular case to bring forward, because many people would like their case to be the one that becomes the inquest. I also have to balance special interest groups that have a certain view of government and government agencies," Young says.
And after 12 years on the job, and 20 years with the office, Young has become quite familiar with the nuances of the role. But what makes the challenge even greater is the "expect the unexpected" nature of his job -- no two cases are ever alike.
Young's efforts in responding to a wide range of deaths attests to this fact. His office will be called to the scene of any sudden and unexpected death, which could mean fatalities relating to child abuse and domestic abuse; deaths in mining, construction and factories; where there is an allegation of malpractice; if someone dies in police custody, and if someone dies in a psychiatric hospital.
Any death that is potentially an accident, suicide or homicide falls under the jurisdiction of his office.
His responsibilities have also propelled him to the site of many high-profile disasters and tragedies -- provincially, nationally and around the world. In 1998, he provided critical expert support in the aftermath of the Swiss Air flight 111 crash off the coast of Peggy's Cove, N.S., in which 229 people were killed. Among his responsibilities was the sombre task of identifying the victims so that the families could be notified.
He also played a key role in the province's response to the crippling ice storm of January 1998 that struck the eastern part of the province.
More recently, he lead the effort to identify 200 Canadians who were thought to be missing as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York.
He has given expert advice in many cases around the world, including Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, Bermuda and England.
The chief coroner has the thorny responsibility of examining all the facts of the case, and determining when an inquest needs to be called.
"What we'll do is look for a representative case that will illustrate something and bring that forward," Young says.
For example, in tackling domestic abuse, the office conducted an inquest into the particularly notorious death of Gillian Hadley, who was murdered in June 2000 by her estranged husband, Ralph Hadley, who then shot and killed himself.
In August 1992, Young finished a five-month inquest into the death of Jonathan Yeo, a psychotic sexual predator with an 11-year history of violence against women who shot himself during a police chase.
The inquest examined police investigative procedures, bail procedures and the role of the health care system in cases of people with violent psychiatric disorders.
"By calling an inquest, we are exploring the issue, educating the public, and looking for some long-term solutions," Young says.
From there, the jury will make recommendations in order to prevent similar tragedies. For example, the inquest jury in the Gillian Hadley case came back with 58 recommendations covering many issues, including the roles of police, crown attorneys, and the courts, and the functions of bail, family law, and social services such as housing, income support, and community-based services for women and men.
It is then Young's job to make sure all affected parties are notified about the recommendations. He says about 75% of the recommendations will be implemented within a two-year period.
In addition to working toward prevention, he says an inquest can be an essential part of the healing process for families, and the province.
"I think we have a culture in Ontario where people realize that this is a good way to improve things," he says. "It's proactive and positive and very positive for the families. When they recognize that things happen and changes were made as a result of a good, unbiased look at their loved ones' deaths, they gain some measure of relief from that."
Young has come a long, long way since graduating from medical school at the University of Toronto in 1975. After school, he worked as a general practitioner in Elmvale. Ont., and then in 1977 worked as an investigative coroner for Simcoe County until 1982.
"After a number of years in practice, I was thinking about going to law school or into another area of medicine," he says. "But when I became a local coroner, I became very interested in investigating deaths, and medical and legal matters."
He was later appointed regional coroner for Metropolitan Toronto, and then for Central Region, and in 1988 worked as the province's deputy chief coroner for two years before becoming the chief coroner.
"It was the combination of the law and the medicine and dealing with the media and the public -- it had the right mix of things that interested me," he says.
Much of what he enjoys about his work -- and what he believes is integral to doing his job properly -- is the independence the office enjoys.
One of the best features of the Ontario coroner system is its independence. As the chief coroner, I don't discuss with the deputy minister (of public safety and security) investigations that are under way, what we're doing, or why I've called an inquest. We're left to make those decisions," he says.
But along with that freedom comes public accountability and, consequently, ongoing scrutiny from the media.
Young takes it all in stride, and says he views the media as an assistance to public safety.
"We view the media as, in fact, partners in publicizing the public safety issues, and in getting our message out for us," he says. "We recognize that they really are a big assist to us, so we view the media very positively."
But dealing with the media is a minor challenge compared to the emotionally-charged tragedies he has had to deal with. The World Trade Center attacks stand out as particularly egregious, and he vividly remembers the chaos that enveloped the city.
"It was a huge disaster where people were still very worried about their personal safety. This was a city that was certainly very tense," he says. "It was important to try to figure out which people had been in the WTC and to work with the families of those who we thought had perished and give them the right answers. It's difficult, and you have to be careful that you get your rest and that you deal with your own emotions."
Young's strategy is to talk about his experiences, and he lectures extensively to organizations such as the Law Society of Upper Canada, universities, police stations and forensic groups. He also writes regularly, and has co-authored many publications about social issues such as euthanasia, guns and suicide.
But he says that it's his positive attitude that works in his favour.
"I'm by nature very upbeat and positive. I dwell on the positive and not on the negative and the fact that I'm dealing with death all the time," he says. "It's interesting and it's stimulating work, but you still need to make sure that you're doing other things in your off hours."
But Young has to work extra hard to sneak in some off-time. In addition to being chief coroner, he is also assistant deputy minister of public safety and security, and just recently, he was appointed commissioner of public security for the province.
But it's all in a day's work for Young, and if at the end of the day he can say he's making a difference, then he is truly living his dream job.
"I haven't regretted a day. I have a wonderful job that's very interesting and very stimulating," he says. "I think we've been part of significant improvements. We're trying to make Ontario absolutely the safest place to live."
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