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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Males are more likely to die of an accidental death or commit suicide than females in the NWT, according to a report from the coroner service.

The service released a review recently examining 879 deaths in the territory between 2001 and 2010. Deputy chief coroner, Soura Rosen, said there were a few pieces of information that stuck out in the report.

"It was surprising to learn that the majority of accidental deaths were male at 77 per cent and the highest number of accidental deaths for males were in the age group of 40 to 49 years old," Rosen said.

The report shows there were 217 accidental deaths recorded over the 10-year period. Many of the deaths were caused by drowning, incidents involving vehicles, cold exposure or a plane or helicopter crash.

"Another thing that stuck out for us and what usually does is the number of deaths that have alcohol involvement," Rosen continued.

Alcohol was involved in 57 per cent of accidental deaths, especially those caused by snowmobile accidents and exposure to the cold.

Meanwhile, from 2001 to 2010 there were 84 suicides. Sixty-eight of the deceased were male, with the majority being 20 to 39 years old. The most common methods of suicide were hanging, 40, gunshot wound, 27, and drugs, six.

Also over the 10-year period, there were 25 homicide deaths, accounting for three per cent of all deaths. The majority of the deceased were males at 20 deaths. Twelve of those deaths occurred among males aged 20 to 39.

Rosen said she would like to see the review used to spark change. "Any time that the coroner's office puts out any kind of report, it's in the hope that it will be viewed for prevention down the road."

The document has been tabled in the legislative assembly. Sue Glowach, senior communications adviser for the Department of Justice, said the report could be of use to a number of departments, including Justice, Transportation and Health and Social Services.

"I'm sure everyone who is involved with specific areas that would be impacted by deaths would look at that report ... All departments use good information and collected information in their day-to-day work," Glowach said.

In Justice, for instance, the statistics might be used to develop new programs or enhance old ones, she added.

Earl Blacklock, spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, said the statistics relevant to his department aren't news to him because they already have a detailed database of vehicular collisions that happen in the NWT.

"(The coroners review) has done a good service in terms of raising awareness of the preventable nature of many of these incidents," Blacklock said.

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