TORONTO - A Canadian gay rights group wants Ontario's chief coroner to conduct a review of youth suicide after an openly gay 15-year-old Ottawa boy took his own life.
Egale Canada calls the death of Jamie Hubley on Oct. 14 deeply upsetting, saying he battled depression and endured bullying and vicious taunts in school.
The group also points to the suicides of Jeanie Blanchette, 21, and Chantal Dube, 17, in Orangeville in 2010 and of 13-year-old Shaquille Wisdom in Ajax in 2007.
Egale says suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth in Canada.
It says studies have determined suicide rates among gay youth are four times higher than among other young people.
The group says a coroner's review should focus on the underlying causes of youth suicides, what can be done to prevent them, how support systems can be improved and how existing policies can be made better.