Can a fatality inquiry judge order public funding for counsel acting on the mother's behalf?

The jurisdiction of a fatality inquiry judge to order public funding for a party was also considered by the court in Alberta v. Bjorgan, 2005 ABCA 309 (CanLII). The Applicant in that case was the mother of a child whose death was the subject-matter of the fatality inquiry. The fatality inquiry judge acknowledged the lack of statutory or inherent jurisdiction to order public funding for counsel acting on the mother’s behalf but ordered funding nonetheless on the basis of “natural justice and procedural fairness”.