Criminal charges stayed against Ministry of Labour, five others, in 2006 Sudbury mining death

In court Wednesday, the director of Ontario's Complex Prosecutions Bureau said he was staying criminal charges against the Ministry of Labour and five others in connection with a mining fatality in 2006.

John Corelli told the court that because of the complexity of the case, the bureau needs time to evaluate whether charges of criminal negligence causing death have a reasonable chance of succeeding.

By staying the charges, the Crown has up to a year to decide whether to proceed with the prosecutions.

The case dates to May 25, 2006, when Raymond Campeau was working 2,000 feet underground at Podolsky Mine in Capreol. A winch he was trying to repair exploded, sending metal fragments flying at high speed.

Campeau's legs were badly damaged and he died 90 minutes later. His widow, Fay Smith, successfully sued the province in 2018, arguing that a Ministry of Labour inspector had identified the winch as a significant safety hazard and ordered the problem to be rectified.

But the lawsuit said the ministry failed to follow through on the orders, leading to her husband’s death.

The current criminal charges were brought by Smith as a private prosecution. A justice of the peace in Sudbury ruled in March there was enough evidence to proceed.

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In addition to the Ministry of Labour, charged in the case were Dan Beaulieu, an inspector for the ministry at the time, the former Dynatec Corp., Chris Stewart, Terry Jibbs and Stylianos Kontonikolas.

They were charged under what's known as the Westray Law, which allows corporations and their representatives to be charged criminally for violations of the law that lead to serious injuries or death.

In June, the Sudbury's Crown office announced it was taking over the prosecution. The Complex Prosecutions Bureau took over the prosecution to avoid any perception of bias.

Otherwise, it would have been the Sudbury Crown prosecuting the Sudbury branch of the Ministry of Labour.

On Wednesday in Sudbury, Corelli said staying the charges would give them time to gather first-hand information.

"These charges were not the culmination of a police investigation," he told Ontario Court Justice Leonard Kim.

At this point, Corelli said it wouldn't be reasonable to ask the court to set aside time for a case it isn't sure would be prosecuted.

Assess each case individually

The stay of proceedings will allow them to ask for help from police if needed and to assess the case against each individual defendant who has been charged, Corelli said.

While their clients are technically no longer facing charges, lawyers for the defendants said they weren't happy that they haven't yet received a "shred" of disclosure and that their clients would be in legal limbo until a final decision is made.

But Kim responded that it was the duty of the Crown not to proceed with a case if it wasn't confident that there was a reasonable chance of being successful.

Michael Lacy, lawyer for Fay Smith, told CTV News in an email that it has provided Corelli's office with the information and evidence it collected in support of its private prosecution.

"We understand that the Crown’s decision to stay the charges today is to allow Mr. Correlli’s office to continue to review the material we provided as well as other information and evidence," Lacy said.

"Fay has waited a long time already for justice in this case. She was optimistic that Mr. Correlli’s office would have been in a position today to confirm that the charges will be prosecuted. But she does not want a rash decision being made without the benefit of carefully reviewing the information we provided to the Crown."

"She is hopeful that with a pause in the prosecution through the stay, best efforts will be made to make an objective determination about the matter as quickly as possible," Lacy added.

 

Lacy's full statement on the decision:

"As you know, there is a long history to this matter. Fay has been advocating for justice to be done in relation to her husband’s death for almost two decades. It has been her consistent position that charges ought to have been laid against those responsible following the initial police investigation, but the local Sudbury Crown’s office concluded that there was no basis to proceed with charges then. Ultimately, Fay went to court herself appeared before a Justice of the Peace and charges of criminal negligence were allowed to proceed to court. Because those charges are indictable offences, it is Crown policy that the charges cannot be prosecuted by a private individual or by private counsel.

"Initially, the local Crown’s office intervened and was going to make a decision as to whether to allow the charges to proceed. On behalf of Fay, we wrote to the Attorney General requesting that counsel independent of the Sudbury office and independent of the Attorney General make that determination. The Attorney General decided that the matter should be reviewed by Mr. Corelli’s office. We provided his office and the counsel conducting the review with the information and evidence that Fay compiled to support the charges together with a letter outlining the legal basis and liability of each person/organization that was charged.

"We understand that the Crown’s decision to stay the charges today is to allow Mr. Correlli’s office to continue to review the material we provided as well as other information and evidence. The stay stops the clock on the prosecution for up to one year until such time as the Crown determines what should happen.

"Fay has waited a long time already for justice in this case. She was optimistic that Mr. Correlli’s office would have been in a position today to confirm that the charges will be prosecuted. But she does not want a rash decision being made without the benefit of carefully reviewing the information we provided to the Crown. She is hopeful that with a pause in the prosecution through the stay, best efforts will be made to make an objective determination about the matter as quickly as possible."