Prince  George, B.C. – The widow of one of the two men killed in the Babine Forest Products explosion in January 2012 is pleased with the recommendations issued by the jury at the coroner’s inquest into the tragedy.

Late Friday the jury ruled the deaths of sawmill workers Robert Luggi Jr. and Carl Charlie accidental.  The jury and presiding Coroner Chico Newell issued a total of  41 recommendations to parties including Babine Forest Products Ltd. and the Manufacturer’s Advisory Group, Hampton Resources Inc., the United Steelworkers Union District 3, WorkSafeBC, the Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour of BC, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, BC Safety Authority, Health Safety Unions, the Burns Lake Native Development Corporation, the Office of the Fire Commissioner and the Minister of Justice of British Columbia.

Maureen Luggi, the widow of Robert Luggi Jr, says “I am very happy with the recommendations.  They were read out in the courtroom and I heard them all and I agree with them all one hundred percent.”  Asked whether any of the recommendations specifically stand out, she says “I think the one regarding the Westray Law, the Criminal Code Section 217.1.  It would be recommendation number 31.”

“That one stands out for me the most because it’s the start for an amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada.  The background to that recommendation is the Westray Act amendment created a duty under 217.1 but did not create an offence for failing to fulfill that duty.  If that were implemented right now, me and you would not be having this conversation and people would be made accountable for their actions if men and women die in workplaces.  So that one stands out for me the most.”

Maureen Luggi continues “I think all of the recommendations are really good.  The other one is to Babine Forest Products would be the presiding coroner’s recommendation to conduct an employment equity audit pursuant to the Employment Equity Act.   I really like that one because there was so much testimony given that Babine Forest Products is comprised of 11% ownership of the Burns Lake Native Development Corporation and the rest of the company belongs to Hampton Affiliates.”

“I feel what they need to do is create better working relationships with First Nations people in the Burns Lake area, and the recommendations that came forward from the presiding coroner addressed those.  We heard evidence related to a relationship accord that was presented to Hampton Affiliates by the Burns Lake Native Development Corporation that Hampton has not responded to.  The details of that accord were read out as evidence and it sounded so positive that we wondered why this wasn’t being pursued by the company.”

She says there has been no explanation why such an accord has not been looked into further and says “I think they may have been focussing likely on the re-build (of the Babine mill) and getting the new mill in operation than on a relationship accord.  So I would think that it would be their next logical step to look at this accord and start creating more meaningful relationships with First Nations people.”

Regarding the question of accountability in this tragedy Luggi says “I think there’s accountability that’s required at the WorkSafe level and the Babine Forest Products level and the Shirley Bond level, she’s the Minister of Labour.  I think that with regard to WorkSafeBC, at every level there needs to be accountability measures so that workers don’t have to die in workplaces the way that Robert and Carl died.”

Luggi says accountability also has to extend to the Steelworkers Union.  “Yes, definitely to the union, I fully agree.  I think there was evidence heard on the stand regarding the men, the workers paying union dues and yet the union is not representing them to the best of their ability.”

“Hopefully that will change and I think that at every level, in government and in industry, that people need to be kept accountable so that workers don’t die like this, so that preventable tragedies never have to happen like this again.”

Maureen Luggi reflects upon the tragedy, the fallout and the more than three years which have now passed since that horrendous day by saying “I think that our families need time and space to process all of these recommendations and start to de-brief and think about our next steps and to consider the evidence of what happened, where it happened.  You know, for me there’s a sense of peace and closure but I would like to see all of our families arrive at that same conclusion and decide what our next steps are going to be.”