From the Morgue to the Penthouse

From the Morgue to the Penthouse: Coroners Still Underpaid, CEOs Still Overpaid—Just Like in Larry Campbell’s Vancouver

Remember Vancouver in the early 2000s? That’s when Larry Campbell, a former coroner himself, became mayor. Back then, you might’ve hoped things would change—after all, a coroner in City Hall could shine a light on frontline workers’ treatment. But here we are, 2025, and nothing’s improved. If anything, the gap has grown wider—and crueler.

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1. Coroners Still Paid Peanuts—And the Consequences Are Deadly

Back in Campbell’s era, community coroners were already underpaid. Today? They’re still earning a toothless $32.32/hour, with no benefits, limited hours, and exposure to emotional trauma, under an “as-needed” contract structure.

The human cost is horrifyingly clear: in East Vancouver earlier this year, police found a deceased man in his apartment. The community coroner did not attend in person, relying instead on a remote phone briefing. The result? They missed two additional bodies in the apartment, one of them a 13-year-old Indigenous girl, Noelle O’Soup. Their remains weren’t discovered for months—only after neighbors complained about a foul odor. 💔💔💔💔
(globalnews.ca, nsnews.com)

This isn’t a fluke. It’s the systemic consequence of underfunding, forcing coroners into remote assessments instead of face-to-face investigations—and putting lives and justice at risk.

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2. Health Authority Executives Are Banking in the Millions

Meanwhile, the government hires Dr. Penny Ballem, walking in with $400,000/year, to oversee an efficiency review she helped build. She’s already billed taxpayers $1.4 million in consulting, projected to hit $1.8 million over five years, and the report remains secret. (vancouverisawesome.com)

Across BC, dozens of health authority executives make $250k–$500k/year, with perks, bonuses, and golden parachutes. Meanwhile, the people actually running life-and-death investigations earn barely above minimum wage. (reddit.com)

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3. Twenty-plus Years of Broken Promises

Campbell, the coroner-turned-mayor, was once the symbol of progressive governance. Yet two decades later, the fields of harm reduction, public safety, and frontline care are still undervalued. Coroners still earn fractions of what bureaucrats do. Executives still get golden parachutes while frontline workers fight burnout and trauma.

The death of a 13-year-old girl in a scenario that could have been prevented if a trained professional had attended the scene in person highlights the human cost of austerity. This isn’t policy—it’s negligence wrapped in bureaucracy.

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4. The Injustice Is Personal—and Structural

This isn't just an accounting issue. It's a social value statement:

• You, the coroner, walking into trauma and death, underpaid and unsupported.
• They, the executive, sitting in an office, earning hundreds of thousands, insulated from real consequences.

Frontline workers cope with trauma. Executives negotiate glossy contracts.
The province still acts as if doing the hard, heartbreaking work is cheap, invisible, or optional—and the rest is worth millions.

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Final Note: Endorse the Rage, Demand Justice

We can’t keep pretending that systemic underfunding is “efficiency.” When children die unnoticed and frontline workers are left underpaid, the moral clarity of oversight, justice, and human decency is lost.

Twenty-plus years after Larry Campbell’s era, nothing has changed—and in some ways, things are worse. The hole for frontline workers has only gotten deeper, and the cost is paid with human lives.

It’s time to call it what it is: structural cruelty, negligence, and grotesque executive greed.