Parents of teen killed by drunk driver in Saskatoon press for coroner's inquest

As a part of our continuing provincial election coverage, CBC News is putting a face to some of the issues people in this province are concerned about before they vote. Here is one of their personal stories.

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Nearly two years after their son J.P.'s death, Alex and Marilou Haughey are still consumed with grief over the loss of their only child. 

"There isn't a day go by that we don't think about our son," said Alex.

"I probably sleep like two, three or four hours the most every night," Marilou said. "Keep on waiting for the door to open. Or I will wait for his footsteps to come up because he comes up and gives me a hug and kiss good night before he goes to sleep every single night."

J.P.'s room remains as it was, untouched since the tragedy.

When you're in court you feel humiliated, degraded, and even discriminated against.- Alex Haughey, J.P.'s father

Saskatchewan is the province with the highest rate of drunk driving — more than two and a half times the national average.

On May 5, 2014 in Saskatoon, a drunk driver in a stolen vehicle evading police led to the collision that took the lives of two 17 year olds, Sarah Wensley and James Paul Haughey, known as J.P. to his family and friends.

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Alex and Marilou struggle with anger over how their son was snatched from them, and what followed in the court system.

"When you're in court you feel humiliated, degraded, and even discriminated against. But you're supposed to be the victim," said Alex.

For Marilou, it was "a torture sitting down there and listening through it. It seems like they're killing you slowly ... We were told right in our face that we are not entitled for any counselling because we are not the victims. So what are we then?"

They fought to have the counselling they desperately needed paid for through Victim Services in the province's Ministry of Justice. Eventually, they got it. 

The rules have now changed so that family members of homicide victims are eligible for counselling. The cap for that has also been been boosted from $2,000 to $5,000 per person.

Police action questioned

Even so, the Haugheys remain haunted by lingering questions over how the actions of police may have contributed to the fatal crash.

"We really feel deeply that we are being kept in the dark," said Alex, explaining why he and his wife are calling for a coroner's inquest. 

"They knew this was a stolen vehicle," he continued. "They followed them for quite a long time. They could have just let it go. They would have run out of gas. Pulled over, stopped ... When a criminal has been caught three or four times obviously if they hear a siren, see a glimpse of a light, they're gone."

The couple is also pressing for tougher sentencing.

"And I believe if you take one life then you should do a life sentence," Alex explained. "Our sentencing structure should be more harsher to give a deterrent."