The Honourable Susan Lang, the Independent Reviewer of the Motherisk Hair Analysis Review, completed her review and sent her findings and recommendations to the Attorney General of Ontario on December 15, 2015. You will find the Report of the Independent Review in both .PDF and .EPUB format on this page. 

The Report - PDF

The Report - EPUB

Independent Reviewer's Statement on the Release of the Report, December 17, 2015

The Honourable Susan Lang, the Independent Reviewer of the Motherisk Hair Analysis Review, has completed her review and today sent her findings and recommendations to the Attorney General of Ontario. The Order in Council appointing the Independent Reviewer provided that the Attorney General will make the Report available to the public as soon as practicable.

The Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review (“Review”) is being conducted by the Honourable Susan Lang. The Review is inviting submissions from interested parties concerning matters within the Review’s mandate. 

The Review’s mandate has been expanded. Please see the Order in Council, dated April 22, 2015,  to understand the scope of the Review’s mandate.  The Review’s mandate is to assess the adequacy and reliability of hair analysis evidence used in child protection and criminal proceedings from 2005 to 2015. The Review will carefully examine the methodology of hair analysis used by the Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory during this period to assess its reliability for forensic purposes.  The Review has also been asked to make recommendations about whether an additional review or process with respect to specific cases or classes of cases is warranted, and if so the nature and extent of any such additional review or process.

We welcome submissions from the public on any matters within the mandate of the Review, including any relevant supporting documents, by September 11, 2015.  We intend to identify organizations and persons from whom we received submissions, and may reference those submissions in our final report as appropriate. You may e-mail your submissions to our Executive Coordinator, Joanna Arvanitis at joanna.arvanitis@m-hair.ca, or send them by mail or courier Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review, 155 Wellington St. W., 35th Floor, Toronto, ON  M5V 3H1.

As the Independent Reviewer appointed by the Attorney General and the Government of Ontario to report and make recommendations regarding certain aspects of the Motherisk hair analysis program, I would like to update you on the progress of the Review.  The mandate of my Review was expanded on April 22, 2015.

The Review’s mandate now includes an examination of the reliability of the hair-strand drug and alcohol testing methodology used by the Motherisk laboratory for use as evidence in child protection and criminal proceedings between 2005 and 2015. I will also be looking at the laboratory’s conformance with internationally-recognized forensic standards and other matters related to its operation over the same period.  

Finally, I will be making recommendations concerning whether the use of hair-strand evidence in child protection and criminal proceedings warrants an additional review or process with respect to specific cases or classes of cases.  In making any recommendations for a further review, I will consider the nature and extent of such a further review or process. 

As required by the terms of the Order in Council, I will not be reporting on any individual cases, nor will I be expressing any conclusions or recommendations regarding professional discipline matters or civil or criminal liability.

The process chosen by the province is an independent review rather than a public inquiry. Given the nature of a review, and this Review’s focus on the scientific reliability of the hair-strand drug and alcohol testing methodology used by the Motherisk laboratory, much of the work involves collection of relevant information and an examination of the scientific issues. To this end, the Review’s team of legal counsel, headed by Linda Rothstein, has and continues to collect and examine information and relevant documents from the Motherisk laboratory and other sources. The legal team continues to conduct extensive research on various matters relevant to the mandate. 

We have had the benefit of site visits to the Motherisk laboratory as well as to forensic toxicology laboratories. We have retained two internationally-renowned forensic toxicologists who continue to work in close connection with the team. Information about their qualifications is available on this website. We have also benefitted significantly from meetings with representatives of various organizations and legal associations. 

When our mandate was earlier restricted to the period of 2005-2010, we requested submissions from a broad range of organizations whom we identified or identified themselves as having an interest in the topics within the Review’s mandate.  We have received 37 submissions to date, including from family and criminal law organizations and from several children’s aid societies.  Some of the submissions we received commented on the time constraints imposed by our earlier deadline for submissions. Since the mandate has been recently expanded and the timeline to report to the Attorney General has been extended, we will continue to receive submissions from interested individuals and organizations in response to our earlier request.

We will also be posting a date for further submissions dealing with the issues raised in our expanded mandate, including submissions regarding the nature and extent of any additional review or process with respect to specific cases or classes of cases.

If you wish to be notified of the date set for submissions or otherwise provide us with your views on any matter within our mandate, please contact the Review through Joanna Arvanitis, Executive Coordinator, at 416.646.7499 or joanna.arvanitis@m-hair.ca. 

I look forward to delivering my report to the Attorney General by the date set out in the Order in Council:  December 15, 2015.

By Order in Council dated April 22, 2015, and on the recommendation of the Honourable Susan Lang, the Government of Ontario has expanded the mandate of the Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review, and extended the deadline for delivery of the final report to December 15, 2015.

Since her appointment as Independent Reviewer on November 26, 2014, the Honourable Susan Lang has consulted with two leading forensic toxicology experts, and has obtained information and materials from the Motherisk laboratory regarding the immunoassay hair-testing methodology that it used in the period from 2005 to 2010.  She has also received and considered a number of responses to her request for submissions concerning the period from 2005 to 2010. 

The Independent Reviewer’s work is ongoing.  However, in the course of that work, the Independent Reviewer became concerned that the issues related to the Motherisk laboratory may not be limited to the use of the immunoassay hair-testing methodology, and determined that it was also necessary to consider the extent to which the Motherisk laboratory adhered to internationally recognized forensic standards. 

The Independent Reviewer’s mandate is no longer restricted to a review of the adequacy and reliability of the immunoassay hair-testing methodology used by the Motherisk laboratory from 2005 to 2010.  Her mandate now includes a review of all hair-strand drug and alcohol testing used by the Motherisk laboratory from 2005 to 2015, as well as the extent to which the operation of the Motherisk laboratory adhered to internationally recognized forensic standards during that period.  As part of her review, the Independent Reviewer may also consider and report on other matters related to the operation of the Motherisk laboratory that she considers necessary and appropriate to address.

In fulfilling her mandate, the Independent Reviewer will not be reporting on any individual cases.  Nor will she be expressing any conclusions or recommendations regarding professional discipline matters or civil or criminal liability.  The Independent Reviewer’s mandate is to report and make recommendations on whether the use of evidence derived from the Motherisk laboratory’s hair-strand drug and alcohol testing in criminal and child protection proceedings has implications warranting an additional review or process with respect to specific cases or classes of cases.    

The Independent Reviewer has previously issued a call for submissions to interested individuals and organizations.  As her mandate has now been expanded and the deadline for the delivery of her final report has been extended, the Independent Reviewer expects to issue a further call for submissions.  Please continue to check www.m-hair.ca for updates, or contact us at info@m-hair.ca or 416.646.7499 if you have any questions.

Revised Order in Council - April 22 2015

Ministry of the Attorney General Press Release, April 22, 2015 

The Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review (“Review”) is being conducted by the Honourable Susan Lang. The Review is inviting submissions from interested parties concerning matters within the Review’s mandate.

Please see the Order in Council establishing the Review to understand the scope of the Review’s mandate.  As you will see, the Order in Council restricts the Review to the period 2005-2010 and to hair analysis evidence used in child protection and criminal proceedings.  The Review will carefully examine the methodology of hair analysis used by the Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory (“MDTL”) during this period to assess its reliability for forensic purposes.  The Review will also consider whether the use of evidence derived from MDTL’s hair-strand drug testing in child protection and criminal proceedings has implications warranting an additional review with respect to specific cases or classes of cases and, if so, the nature and extent of any such review.

We welcome submissions from the public on any matters within the mandate of the Review, including any relevant supporting documents, on or before March 31, 2015.  You may e-mail your submissions to our Executive Coordinator, Joanna Arvanitis at joanna.arvanitis@m-hair.ca, or send them by mail or courier Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review, 155 Wellington St. W., 35th Floor, Toronto, ON  M5V 3H1.

The Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review is pleased to announce that it has retained two leading forensic toxicologists to assist and provide advice to the Independent Reviewer in fulfilling her mandate, one from Australia and the other from Scotland:

• Professor Olaf H. Drummer, FFSC, FRCPA, CChem, PhD (Med), BAppSc(Chem) is a forensic pharmacologist and toxicologist.  He is Deputy Director (Academic Programs) at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and Professor and Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia.  Professor Drummer completed his PhD from Melbourne University in 1980, and has been involved in the analysis of drugs and poisons, and the interpretation of their biological effects, for almost 40 years.  He has published extensively in the fields of forensic pharmacology and toxicology, including in over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers in journals and in textbooks.  He is a past President of the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists and is the inaugural President of the Forensic and Clinical Toxicology Association of Australia and New Zealand.  He is also a member of a number of national and international associations.
• Dr. Gail Audrey Ann Cooper, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, CChem, FRSC, FHEA, is an independent Consultant Forensic Toxicologist and Director of Cooper Gold Forensic Consultancy Ltd. based in Scotland. She completed her PhD in Forensic Toxicology at the University of Glasgow in 1999.  Dr. Cooper has worked in the field of forensic toxicology for over 15 years, including for seven years within the academic unit of Forensic Medicine and Science at the University of Glasgow where she was Lead Consultant Forensic Toxicologist.  She has published numerous peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and is co-editor of a key textbook on Forensic and Analytical Toxicology. She is a Chartered Chemist, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of the Higher Education Authority and a board member and secretary of both the Society of Hair Testing and the UK and Ireland Association of Forensic Toxicologists. 

The Independent Review team has also commenced its consultation process and has conducted preliminary meetings, interviews and communications with various organizations, including representatives of the Hospital for Sick Children, Children’s Aid Societies, the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, representatives of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Ontario Court of Justice, the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Family Lawyers Association.

The Independent Review team will continue to consult as it carries out its review. Updates respecting the process, including an invitation for submissions, will be posted on the Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review website (www.m-hair.ca).

Interested individuals or organizations who wish to meet with the Independent Review team or make submissions on matters within its mandate should contact Joanna Arvanitis, Executive Coordinator, at 416.646.7499 or joanna.arvanitis@m-hair.ca.

As the Independent Reviewer, I welcome the opportunity to report on issues surrounding hair testing between 2005 and 2010 and its implications.  Since the process chosen by the province is a review, it is important to note that I will not be conducting a public inquiry or holding public hearings.  Instead, I will meet with scientists, organizations and other persons who can provide information relevant to the review.  We have already held a number of preliminary meetings.  We are also in discussion with forensic toxicologists with expertise in the area of hair analysis related to drug use.  As the inquiry proceeds, we will issue a call for written submissions on issues relevant to the inquiry.  If you wish to make submissions or request a meeting with my counsel or me, please send a message tojoanna.arvanitis@m-hair.ca.