Public Works pleads guilty in 2009 worker death

Parliament Hill boiler plant never implemented safety training.

by SGN Staff

OTTAWA, November 20, 21012 (SGNews) — The federal department of Public Works pled guilty today to labour code violations in a deadly boiler explosion at Cliff Heating and Cooling Plant in 2009.

NDP Public Works critic Linda Duncan told reporters it is "absolutely reprehensible, that none of these officers running this boiler plant that exploded had ever receiving training in safety or in avoiding hazards."

Linda Duncan on Public Works failing to provide safety training to employees.

In an unprecedented move, the judge in the case put Public Works on probation. Duncan said, "I have never heard of that before.

"Clearly the judge found this action to be reprehensible. As I understand, they’re looking into details of what actually happened, how little training was provided. I noticed in the article that was written kind of a caustic statement — which is what I used to be told, back in the 1980s — and that’s 'Why would you prosecute the government?' It comes out of one pocket into another.

"No, that is not the case. We have a very important provision in Canadian law and it’s that the Crown is bound and what that means is when a Crown entity or employer or minister or a director violates a federal law, they too can be prosecuted. They’re held accountable."

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