Chantelle Anna Blom

The Chief Coroner for Ontario brought a motion to set aside an order requiring him to file a record of proceedings for a judicial review application concerning his refusal to order an inquest into a death.

The Divisional Court held that the Chief Coroner was not exercising a 'statutory power of decision' under the Judicial Review Procedure Act when deciding whether to hold an inquest, as he was determining the public interest rather than legal rights or eligibility for benefits.

Consequently, the Chief Coroner was not required to file a record of proceedings, and the motion was granted.

The applicant brought a motion to compel the respondent Chief Coroner to file a record of proceedings in a pending application for judicial review.

The underlying application sought to review the Chief Coroner's decision not to order an inquest into the death of the applicant's child.

The respondent argued that the decision was not the exercise of a statutory power of decision and generated no record of proceedings.

The court granted the motion, holding that as long as there is a pending application for judicial review, a record of proceedings must be filed, leaving the determination of reviewability to the reviewing panel.