Family of Montreal man shot by SPVM struggled to pay legal fees, while city covered nearly $200K for officers

The City of Montreal spent $190,601 on lawyers representing police officers at thecoroner's inquest looking into the fatal shooting of Pierre Coriolan, while his family received only $5,000 to cover their legal fees, a civil rights group has found.

The stark contrast, advocates say, illustrates and reinforces inequalities in Quebec's justice system.

Coriolan was 58 years oldand struggling with mental health issues when he was tasered and then shot three timesby Montreal police officers in his apartment three years ago.

Six SPVM officers were involved in the incident.

A coroner's inquest into his death began lastFebruary.

According to testimony and evidence shown at the inquest, a neighbour told the 911 dispatcher about Coriolan's mental health issues, but police saidthey felt threatened because he was holding a screwdriver in one hand and a knife in the other.

Each of the six SPVM officers had a contingent of lawyers representing them during the inquest, and most of themwere at least partly publicly funded, documents obtained by theLigue des droitset libertsthrough an access to information request revealed.

According to the documents, the City of Montreal reimbursed the officers for part of their legal fees, adding up to a total of $190,601and that was just for the first two weeks of the inquest.

The Montreal Police Brotherhood and the provincial government also provided officers with lawyers for the inquiry.

Lynda Khelil, spokesperson for the Ligue des droitset liberts, says the documents confirm a huge discrepancy in the system.

"We denounce the lack of empathy and the lack of support for families of victims killed by the police in Quebec," said Khelil.

Do families need lawyers at inquests?

Coriolan's family had to fightto get the $5,000 in compensation they received from the provincial government earlier this year, and that wasn't nearly enough to cover their fees, she said.

Khelil said it's rare for families involved with a coroner's inquest to get any compensation at all.

That's why she is calling on the provincial government to adopt a regulation under theLoisur larecherche des causes et des circonstances des dcs, that would allowfamilies involved ina coroner's inquest to be compensated at the coroner's discretion.

That regulation was first called for in 2013, but has yet to be adopted.

When asked about it by Qubec solidaire MNA AlexandreLeduc in the National Assembly last week,Public Security MinisterGeneviveGuilbaultput the blame on the former Liberal government and said she wouldlook into adopting the regulation soon.

Shesaid families should keep in mind that coroner's inquests are not trials and they are therefore not obliged to have a lawyer present.

"Yes, we want families to be as supported as possible, sometimes it can be daunting when you arrive at a public inquest and you have police officers, the municipality, all these people armed with lawyers, and you feel worried because it looks like an imbalance," said Guilbault.

But, she said, families have the right to ask their own questions, through the coroner, to get to the bottom of what happened without a lawyer present.

Alain Arsenault, a lawyer who represented the Coriolan family, said it is nearly impossible for a family to get their concerns heard without a lawyer present.

"It's through a coroner's inquest that we learn exactly what happened," said Arsenault.

"For the family, it's important to know under what circumstances Mr. Coriolan died. The family needs to know, and not just the family but the public."

Khelil addedthat, when a family is grieving and searching for answers, they should not have to worry about legal fees putting them in a precarious financial situationon top of that.

"We ask the government to give the families the same means they are actually giving to the police and the public institutions during these inquests," Khelil said.

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