ATIKOKAN — Aaron Fisk is described by his mother as a kind man with an adventurous spirit and whose love for his family was constant.
An coroner's inquest into the death of Fisk began on Monday. The 37-year-old died on Oct. 18, 2020 at the Atikokan hospital while in OPP custody.
An inquest, which will examine the circumstances surrounding Fisk’s death, is mandatory under the Coroners Act. The presiding officer in the virtual proceedings is Bonnie Goldberg with Peter Napier and Uko Abara acting as inquest counsel.
There are two other parties with standing in the matter — Fisk’s family and counsel for Ministry of the Solicitor General, acting on behalf of the OPP.
After hearing all information presented in in the inquest, a jury will be asked to decide the manner of Fisk’s death: natural, accidental, suicide, homicide or undetermined.
They may also make recommendations to prevent further deaths.
“The interpretation of the evidence that counts is yours,’ Goldberg said will addressing the jury Monday morning. “It’s your job to consider all of the evidence.”
Fisk’s mother, Tana Troniak, made a statement, describing her son as intelligent and adventurous with a love of the outdoors as well as a man who faced many struggles, including severe depression and addiction.
“My son was no angel but he was our family,” she said. “He was not a bad person. He was a kind and caring man. . . He never stopped telling us he loved us. We loved him so much and so did many others. He made friends wherever he went.”
Fisk wanted to be clean and sober and his resilience was nothing short of extraordinary, she continued.
“Every day I think of him and every day breaks my heart,” said Troniak, adding the family is calling for better mental health and addictions resources.
During his opening statement, inquest counsel, Uko Abara said Fisk was pronounced deceased after collapsing in a holding cell in the Atikokan OPP detachment.
The post-mortem examination concluded Fisk died from hypertensive heart disease in association with fentanyl and methadone toxicity.
Four witnesses are expected to testify this week, including both of the officers who arrested Fisk, a civilian guard and a forensic pathologist.
Abara reminded the jury an inquest is not adversarial and that it is not a trial. The jury isn’t to make any findings of legal responsibility or conclusions of law, but rather the inquest is a “collaborative truth-seeking process.”
The Special Investigations Unit has investigated Fisk's death, and announced in August 2021 it had found no grounds to charge two officers, saying the officers did not fail to care for his well-being while he was suffering the effects of a drug overdose.
The offences taken into consideration by the SIU included failure to provide the necessities of life and criminal negligence causing death.
The inquest is expected to continue throughout the week and proceedings can be viewed live here.
