British Columbia: Dr. Jatinder Baidwan has been appointed as B.C.’s new chief coroner, replacing Lisa Lapointe who retired earlier this year. Baidwan, previously the chief medical officer for the BC Coroners Service, aims to improve the service by providing better data to help policymakers and prevent future deaths.
Lapointe, who retired after 13 years, was disappointed by the service’s lack of impact on policies to address the ongoing illicit drug overdose crisis, which has claimed nearly 15,000 lives since April 2016.
The appointment announcement did not mention the overdose crisis. Baidwan has experience with the coroners’ service, including managing the heat dome deaths in 2021 and handling COVID-19 related deaths.