Coroner will hold inquest into cadet's death at Royal Military College

The Ontario coroner's office has announced it will hold an inquest into the death of an officer cadet at the Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston, Ont., last year.

It's a rare move and one Absar Chaudhry's loved ones hope will provide answers and save another family from experiencing their pain, according to a lawyer representing them.

"They want to ask questions, they want to have clarity and they want to understand … what the climate, the culture, the procedures or supervision he was living under in the days or weeks preceding his passing," said Michel Drapeau.

"It's almost a duty to them in order to do justice to him."

Chaudhry was found dead in his dorm room on Nov. 30. He was 21 years old.

The family was previously told by the coroner that his death was a suicide, but Drapeau pointed out one of the purposes of an inquest is to determine cause of death, so he said he'll wait for the jury's decision on what happened.

Inquest offers family a 'seat at the table'

The lawyer said the Chaudhrys were frustrated by the board of inquiry — the internal, military-led process to examine Absar's death — and were seeking an independent examination of what happened, so they asked the coroner to step in.

The Office of the Chief Coroner has confirmed it will be holding an inquest, as first reported by the Globe and Mail, but said a date has yet to be set.

Drapeau said it's a rare exception, as typically the military is the only body to review the deaths of its members, adding he's only aware of one other case in Ontario where the coroner investigated a military death.

As the death doesn't meet the requirements for a mandatory coroner's inquest, which include fatal incidents at work sites, in custody or while detained at hospitals and psychiatric facilities, it's considered discretionary.

The province's website says the coroner may decide to hold a discretionary inquest to allow the public an "open and full hearing of the circumstances of a death" and if a jury could make recommendations to prevent further fatalities. 

An average of roughly three discretionary inquests are held each year, according to the coroner's office.

Drapeau said there are significant differences between a board of inquiry and a coroner's inquest.

The military system can stretch on for years, doesn't allow the loved ones to induce evidence and forces families to file an access-to-information request in order to get a copy of the final report, according to the lawyer.

In contrast, he said the inquest will be held by an external body and provides the family with a "seat at the table" where they can testify themselves and have a representative cross-examine witnesses.

Military says it will comply with inquest

In a statement sent by email on behalf of both the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces, spokesperson Andrew McKelvey said they will co-operate with the coroner's inquest and "welcome any additional review that would aid in finding the causes" of Chaudhry's death.

The military's own board of inquiry is building a list of witnesses and expects to begin interviewing them in the coming weeks, according to McKelvey, though he said it's too early to say when it will be completed.

A separate statement sent by a spokesperson for National Defence Minister Bill Blair said he "shares the family's goal of identifying what happened and determining how tragedies like this can be prevented in the future."

The email adds the government is committed to "significantly changing the culture" at Canada's military colleges.

RMC has been the target of several reviews, including a 2022 report from former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour who questioned the "wisdom" of maintaining Canada's military academies in their current form.

"The military colleges appear as institutions from a different era, with an outdated and problematic leadership model," her report reads in part.

Drapeau said he believes RMC's culture should be examined as part of the coroner's inquest so any weaknesses or issues can be corrected, "if for no other purpose, [than] to prevent a death of another cadet."