British Columbia's top law enforcement minister has rejected a recommendation to hold a public inquiry into the 1998 death of a Native man.

Solicitor General Rich Coleman said there was no new information to warrant an inquiry into Frank Paul's death. But in a December 2001 letter that only recently surfaced, he once told the police complaint commissioner that he was worried an inquiry would raise issues of racial discrimination by the police.

Paul, 47, was a member of the Big Cove First Nation in New Brunswick. He was taken into police custody in early December 1998 for public drunkenness. Police later dumped him in an alley on a cold and rainy night, and he later died of hypothermia. A videotape shows police dragging him out of the police station.

Get the Story:
No inquiry into death of Frank Paul (CBC 3/18)

Relevant Documents:
Frank Joseph Paul: REASONS FOR DECISION (January 20, 2004)

Related Stories:
B.C. police reopen probe into death of Native man (06/25)
Native family wants inquiry into son's death (06/09)
B.C. official under fire for Native remarks (04/09)