Inquest into death of Kinew James pushed back in Saskatoon

The family of Kinew James will have to wait a few months to get anyanswers about the 35-year-old woman's death at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon.

The inquest into James' death which began Monday at Saskatoon'sCourt of Queen's Bench has been adjourned until later this year.

The adjournment comes after a decision by the courts to allow additional disclosure that will expand the scope of the inquest to include much of James' medical and mentalhealth history while serving her sentence.

"It definitely gives the family more time to go over the packages for disclosure, so I'm happy with it at this point." said James' brother, Cecil James.

• Elizabeth Fry Society to get second try for standing at Kinew James inquest
• Corrections investigation of Kinew James death at RPC finds medical response too slow

The inquest will look at what happened leading up to James'death, including theextent ofcare she received and a minute-by-minute breakdown of what happened on the night she died.

According to allegations made by fellow inmates, staff at the federal prison hospital ignored James' dying calls for help.

The Winnipeg womanwas already in poor health when she transferred to the RPC in late 2012. She hadType 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and suffered from recurring infections.

James died of an apparent heart attack in 2013 while in custody at the forensicpsychiatry facility.

Request to expand scope

Kim Pate, executive director ofthe Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, said the request for theadditional package for disclosure roughly 8,000 pagesin allwas necessary to expand the scope of the inquest.

"What we saw very clearly is not only has the family been denied access to the documentation, but essentially information had not been disclosed, in large part, because of all the delays in standing,"Pateexplained outside of court Monday following the adjournment.

She said it seems that James' health claims were not being taken seriously because of her mental health issues.

"In this situation, had she received the standard of care she was entitled, to which anybody should be entitled, then it was a preventable death."