In the wake of the death of Brad Chapman, a homeless Toronto man, city officials expanded the tracking of the number of homeless who die annually across the GTA in an initiative that began last year.

Now, the way Chapman lived and died is the subject of a 12-day inquest that begins Monday.

His sister Leigh Chapman said she hopes the inquest will “shine a light” on how the homeless, especially those struggling with addiction as her brother did, are underserved by city and provincial social service nets.

“He provides this glimpse of a life trying to navigate this fractured system,” said Leigh, a registered nurse who has worked in harm reduction — including volunteering at supervised injection sites — since her brother died.

A Toronto Star investigation into how the 43-year-old father of three died in 2015 revealed that Toronto city authorities had never comprehensively measured how many underhoused people or those living rough die each year. On Jan. 1, 2017, Toronto Public Health began recording those deaths with a broader mandate and reported a total of 100 over the year. That was three times higher than the old system that recorded just 33 in 2016.

Over the first six months of 2018 — the most recent data available — Toronto Public Health has reported 44 homeless deaths.

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Chapman was found without vital signs near a downtown hotel on the morning of Aug. 18, 2015, and rushed to Toronto General Hospital. He was put on life support and initially listed as a John Doe — even though his personal effects contained a document with his name on it.

His family only discovered Chapman’s grave situation six days later when the hospital’s spiritual counsellor tracked down his identity, and next of kin were located. On Aug. 26, life support was removed with Chapman’s family at his bedside.

Dr. David Eden will preside as inquest coroner. Leigh will be among 23 witnesses who are expected to testify in a hearing room at the coroner’s headquarters near Wilson Ave. and Keele St.

Leigh said she hopes the inquest will provide a platform to have “consensus that we can do better for people who use drugs, like Brad.”

“None of it is going to bring Brad back or anybody else who’s died, but it could prevent similar deaths in the future,” Leigh said. “I know there are many people who are living and dying like Brad did.”

This is the second inquest of 2018 to focus on homelessness in the GTA. In June, the death of Grant “Gunner” Faulkner, a 49-year-old father of three daughters, was examined. Faulkner was homeless in the final years of his life and died Jan. 13, 2015, when the makeshift hut he was in near McCowan Rd. and Sheppard Ave. in Scarborough caught fire.

The two inquests are also the first in more than a decade to focus on homeless individuals who died in the GTA.

Cheryl Mahyr, spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Coroner, said in Chapman’s case it’s believed an inquest is likely to result in the jury returning useful recommendations for meaningful consideration by organizations that “may be in a position to effect change,” such as ministries or agencies.

“The prevention of premature death and the enhancement of public safety is the cornerstone of the work of our office and inquests are an important part of that work,” Mahyr said in an emailed statement.

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Until the 2017 Toronto Public Health initiative, the city had never fully measured the number of homeless deaths. For about 30 years, volunteers tracked those deaths and kept an unofficial list at the Toronto Homeless Memorial, which now has more than 800 names.

The Star investigation into Chapman’s death revealed that across the province, most municipalities did not count such deaths or record related statistical data. Before 2017, Toronto officials only recorded deaths occurring in city-administered shelters; Chapman, who died in hospital, would not have been captured as a homeless death under the old system.

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