Judy Graves, coordinator of the City of Vancouver’s tenant assistance program, was one of several people who attended a memorial on August 19 at Grandview Park to remember Curtis Brick.

An aboriginal man who had fallen on hard times, Brick died on July 29 after lying in the sun for several hours in the East Vancouver park. It was one of the hottest days ever recorded in the city.

Amid questions whether or not Brick received proper care from responding city firefighters and provincially employed paramedics, Graves told the Straight during the memorial that it is important for Mayor Gregor Robertson to add his voice to calls for a coroner’s inquest into the incident.

Robertson and the city council will have the chance to do so.

Vision Vancouver councillors Andrea Reimer and Kerry Jang have filed a motion on notice for council’s meeting on Tuesday (September 8) urging the mayor and city council to endorse the call for a coroner’s inquest into Brick’s death.

The motion also recommends that Robertson write the chief coroner’s office regarding this request.

It likewise recommends that staff “undertake a review of existing extreme weather emergency services offered by the City and make recommendations on these services that would further reduce the risk for street homeless and other vulnerable populations, such as homebound senior citizens, in the event of extreme heat or cold events”.