Yellowknife (May 06/05) - The partner of slain Yellowknife parole officer called for improved workplace safety guidelines last week during an address at the Legislative Assembly.

Anne Lynagh said the brutal murder of parole office Louise Pargeter last October was the "direct result" of inadequate safety procedures at the Correctional Service of Canada.

Lynagh said the federal department could have prevented the crime, which shook the capital and led to calls for parole reform. "Her murder was simply the direct result of the lack of appropriate workplace safety measures," Lynagh said during a memorial for workers killed on the job.

Police discovered Pargeter's body in a Range Lake apartment last October.

A parolee, Eli Ulayuk, has been charged with first degree murder in connection with the slaying. Ulayuk spent nearly a decade in jail after being convicted of manslaughter in the death of an Iglulik, Nunavut woman in 1990.

Pargeter was one of five Nunavut and Northwest Territories residents killed on the job in 2004, according to the Workers' Compensation Board. Nationally, more than 800 Canadians lost their life at work last year.

Lynagh said she was disappointed with the corrections department for using flowery phrases like "the ultimate sacrifice" in reference to Pargeter's killing.

"These words stick in my craw," she said. "There is no need for human sacrifices in any government department."

Pargeter was the first community parole officer killed while on duty. The department has since instituted new safety guidelines.

Lynagh also called for a more compassionate bureaucracy, saying she has been forced to fill out numerous forms in the wake of the killing and has received little support from the government.

"The death was overwhelming," Lynagh said during a phone interview after her speech. "And the (bureaucracy) has been harrowing."

"I would like to challenge those of us who work in government agencies to be more caring."

Lynagh, who is raising the couple's young daughter, also said Thursday she hoped substantial changes would come from the tragedy.

Be proactive

"Let us not become more isolated and afraid. Let us instead be proactive and work to create safer workplaces and safer communities."

The National Parole Board and Correctional Service of Canada have launched a joint investigation into the killing. The panel - which includes two members from each federal department along with a former Nunavut MLA and an Ontario lawyer - is scheduled to present its findings sometime this month. The report was originally scheduled for January.