TORONTO - The mother of a murdered eight-year-old boy pressed Premier Dalton McGuinty on Wednesday to allow a stand-alone inquest into the child's death, saying his refusal so far amounts to a "betrayal'' of her son and other children who face court-ordered, unsupervised visits with a parent.
Julie Craven's son Jared was murdered by her ex-husband Andrew Osidacz during a court-ordered, unsupervised visit in March 2006. Hours after Osidacz had fatally stabbed the boy, he was shot dead by police as he held a knife to Craven's throat.
Despite an Ontario law named for Jared -- passed shortly after his death -- that requires a coroner's inquest whenever a child dies during a court-ordered parental visit, Jared himself isn't getting one because the law wasn't retroactive.
Craven, of Brantford, Ont., told a news conference at the legislature Wednesday that McGuinty is denying Jared his voice by refusing an inquest into her son's murder.
"By denying Jared a stand-alone inquest into his death, you have betrayed Jared and all other children who are in danger of judges granting their violent parents unsupervised access,'' she said. "What would my son be asking you right now? Would he be asking why his death is not important enough to be granted a separate coroner's inquest?''
Jared's death will be reviewed as part of the coroner's inquest into his father's death, but Craven said that puts the focus on her son's killer, not on the real victim.
"There is no reason for Jared not to receive his own inquest, not one that is just tacked on to his killer's,'' she said.
With Jared's mother and his grandfather John Craven looking on from the public galleries, Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci told the legislature only one inquest is needed to cover the police shooting of Osidacz and the murder of Jared.
"The chief coroner of the province of Ontario has decided that they can receive their answers with one coroner's inquest,'' Bartolucci said. "I look forward to that mother and that grandfather receiving the answers to the questions that they've had in their hearts for such a long time.''
John Craven said Bartolucci would react differently if it was his grandson who had been murdered.
"Mr. Bartolucci said he sympathizes with the Craven family,'' Craven said. "It's not the sympathy we're looking for -- what we're looking for is justice for Jared.''
New Democrat Andrea Horwath has introduced a private member's bill that would mandate an inquest whenever a child dies and the Children's Aid Society has been involved with the family. Her bill would be retroactive to January 2006 to make sure it covers Jared because the government legislation -- dubbed Kevin and Jared's Law -- does not.
"The reality is that to have Julie Craven sit through the inquest of the man that murdered her son is the most inhumane prospect that I can think of,'' Horwath said. "I'm actually pleading with the minister to reconsider. His response was just callous.''
Julie Craven said her son's story deserves its own inquest, which she believes could help prevent similar tragedies in the future.
"I'm sorry, but I have no trust in the politicians who keep telling me that all my questions will be answered,'' she said. "It's the public's right to know how the court system and the Children's Aid societies ignored the dangers of Andrew Osidacz having unsupervised access with his son.''
Osidacz's family has established a website, AndrewsAnswers.com, to refute many of the Cravens' claims, suggesting that Osidacz was not the murdered boy's biological father and comparing politicians who voted for Jared's Law to Nazis.
The law was also named for Kevin Latimer, who was 18 months old while on an unsupervised visit with his drunk father at a Hamilton apartment when he fell out a third-floor window and died a few days later.
