What the hell was the point, crown should let a Judge make that decision. Just unreal seems they just lay a recoding of their bullshit.So what’s Bond gong to say another million dollar fine which will be appealed and how hard they are working to make sure it never happens again what BS.

I don’t think a judge should be put into the position of deciding whether charges should be laid. That is solely the job of the crown. Judges are there to decide the case put forward.

If the crown believes that the case is deficient to the point where charges should not be laid, there isn’t a snowballs chance in you know what that the case would be resolved favourably in their eye before the courts.

If anything, this is a wakeup call for Work Safe BC and how they conduct their investigations.

NMG is correct; it’s up to the crown to determine whether or not charges should be laid.

I wonder if any heads will roll at Work Safe? This strikes me as incompetence at an unacceptable level.

What a joke Work Safe B.C. has become over these two explosions in B.C. Are they not supposed to be protecting workers and their families? It almost sounds like someone has been paid off, to botch two investigations in the same way. Sheeple!

So what if they blame a person for striking up his torch at coffee break! Careful what you wish for folks! Hypothetically that is!

The only people that are protecting you on the job is “you”! Know your rights a push management to comply! Don’t wait for worksafe!

NMG maybe correct in one sense, however the Crown has an obligation to proceed in this case as the information on hand was insurmountable compared to Burns Lake. In this case the employer would have a very difficult time proving they did everything reasonable to prevent this explosion. This was the time to at least try, but its to political and Government knows in the end the responsibility is theirs as they are the ones that cut the worksafe regulations and closed and laid-off inspectors in 2002/2004.Worksafe is under the ministry of labour. This is just pain crap and an effect at ass covering and cover-up.

This is what governs crown cousel in approving or disapproving charges: http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/prosecution-service/policy-man/pdf/CHA1_ChargeAssessmentGuidelines.pdf

I would suggest that perhaps a prosecution is required in the public interest.

Steph99… The employer does not have to prove anything !!! This was a criminal investigation that requires the Crown to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, with the evidence provided by the investigators ! The employers don’t have to say anything if that is there choice ! So what happens to these Charter breaching WCB investigators now ?? Is there a highway patrol unit within the WCB where they can go write tickets and ignore the Charter, as there is within RCMP ?

Individuals, corporations and regulators accepted long ago that there is a human cost to industry profits.

I mean how many poeple quit their sawmill job after Babine or Lakeland?

How many corporations shut down production?

How many industries were shut down by regulators?

born in BC, There is risk in everything we do, from driving to the store, walking around the house, skiing down a hill, fishing on the lake, working for a living.

No employer expects their employee to die for you, so they can make money. The employers and worksafe BC, uses all their knowledge to make the work place as safe as they can. This does not mean that there never will be an incident which causes injuries or life.

In some case the employer purely are negligent and will not take orders from Worksafe BC. There are times when a worker has been told not to do certain things, yet they do it until they are a victim.
Each situation is different, and it needs to be reviewed by an independent body.

Could they prove negligence against Babine or Lakelands? They probably could not prove it without implicating themselves. I am sure the dust build up did not happen overnight, and worksafe had reviewed the mills many times before it happened.

If you have not dealt with WCB/Work Safe B.C. on a personal level, then you probably will not understand what I want to point out. The name changed from WCB to Work Safe B.C., the Act did not. WCB/Work Safe B.C. Is not questionable by a court of law. Any of the decisions they make or do ARE NOT questionable, so how can you have a court case when Work Safe B.C. Is involved. You can’t, the Act needs to be changed so Work Safe B.C. Is not above the law. Is Ms. Bond going to announce that, I think not. Hot air coming your way again.

I’ve been fighting WCB off and on since a back injury when I was in my early 20’s, I’m going to be 62 next month. On June 26, 2014, I’m going in for another serious back operation. I’m getting fused from between my shoulder blades to be anchord at my pelvis. Trust me, I’ll be knocking on their door again, to see if they want to take responsibility now.

I would love to see their sorry butts in court, but they’re protected!!!

Taxi

Just maybe the work safe inspectors did not make any errors in their investigation. This government will do anything to cover up the real truth.

That a workplace safety issue may lead to a criminal prosecution is not something just discovered this year. It has been the case for years, and surely all involved must have known this. If two Worksafe Bc investigations in a row were flawed by procedures incompatible with presentation of a criminal case, we’re dealing either with corruption or serious incompetence on the part of Worksafe BC.

I just wonder if everyone just got caught off guard on how more dangerous the dryer beetle kill wood is.

Work Safe B.C/WCB has always been corrupt. Anybody, company, or arm of the government that is allowed to be above the law is CORRUPT!

Taxi

As you say, taxinapothole, WCB is doing business as WorkSafeBC. The act which governs them has not changed. In fact, they have far reaching powers of inspection and questioning.

The supreme court may have ruled regarding of breaching the charter in one or more cases. This is another case.

The charter seems quite specific as is the WCB Act.

The Charter starts off with the following:
“The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it SUBJECT ONLY TO SUCH REASONABLE LIMITS PRESCRIBED BY LAW as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
In the case of WCB, the act put into law the reasonable limits for investigation.

The WCB Act provides that for investigation and inspection purposes under Division 11 of the Act, WARRANTS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO SEIZE MATERIALS IF THEY ARE PROVIDED OR VISIBLE IN OPEN VIEW. Also, people may be interviewed but may have someone else of their choosing attend during the questioning.

http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/LOC/complete/statreg/–%20W%20–/Workers%20Compensation%20Act%20%5BRSBC%201996%5D%20c.%20492/00_Act/96492_03.xml

Based on reports by such media as the Globe and Mail, there seems to be a difference of opinion amongst the lawyers from the Justice Department and WorkSafeBC. Lots of finger pointing.

The internal report by Dyble to the Premier is only one opinion, in my view.

An independent inquiry should be conducted to get to the bottom of the finger pointing of two government organizations. I trust neither organization.

Thanks Gus, for clearing the mud. Can you recommend a good lawyer that will work on a contingency…lol

Well Surprise, Surprise!!! Someone, who’s comments I enjoyed reading, predicted this a couple of months ago!

Posted by: People#1 on February 13 2014 4:07 PM

… “Because of the botched investigation, both the government (WorkSafeBC) and the employer get their free “get out of jail cards”. Everyone walks and the workers and their families are left holding the bag!

This whole situation is simply disgusting, and makes this milk drinking person want to PUKE!!!

Watch this happen with the Lakewood sawmill accident / investigation as well.”

I also seem to recall that People#1 was in favour of an independent public enquiry, which some on here “now” support. What a difference a couple of months makes, and the same results are achieved for the Lakeland investigation as in the Babine Forest Products investigation, as People#1 predicted.

He’s back, Peeps is rearing his head again!

NoWay: “The only people that are protecting you on the job is “you”! Know your rights a push management to comply! Don’t wait for worksafe!”

Exactly. If we’re going to play the blame game, there’s lots to go around. Workers have many tools at their disposal in an unsafe work environment. The unions have been pretty quiet on this as well.

Sitting around and waiting for the government (worksafe) to fix everything will be an exercise in futility.

Shirley Bond and the rest of the Liberal gong show covering their azzes again. We need an independent public inquiry!

I worked at lakeland and my heart bleeds for those that we injured or worse iam sorry to all there family members i let this happen i dont think its right politics run the criminal justice branch of the court shirly bond should be embarased of her position in govt again iam very sorry