In 1992, 26 miners were killed in the Westray mining disaster. An Inquiry set up by the province of Nova Scotia, chaired by Justice Peter Richard, identified serious failures in the management of the mine. In fact the report was titled: "The Westray Story: A Predictable Path to Disaster." No one was prosecuted following the disaster.

As a result of the disaster itself and the perceived failure of the law to hold the company and any senior officers to account, the Steel Workers Union of Canada campaigned for a change in the law.

One of the recommendations of the Inquiry was:

"The Government of Canada through the Department of Justice, should institute a study of the accountability of corporate executives and directors for the wrongful conduct or negligent acts of the corporations and should introduce in the Parliament of Canada such amendments to legislation as are necessary to ensure that corporate executives and directors are held properly accountable for workplace safety."

It should be noted the the Government did not accept that the lack of a prosecution in Westray disaster was the result of inadequate law. It has stated:

"The Government is aware of the frustration felt by the families of the Westray victims over the apparent inability of the criminal justice system to deal with what appears to have been serious corporate wrongdoing. However, the failure of the Westray prosecutions was the result, in part, of a series of prosecutorial decisions which were themselves the subject of a review by provincial authorities. Indeed, it appears that prosecutors believed there was a reasonable possibility of conviction of both the corporation and two of its officers, under current Canadian law governing corporate criminal liability, until one of three prosecution experts developed doubts as to the cause of the explosion. As a result, the question whether the actions of Curragh Inc., the owner and operator of the Westray mine, and some of its officers and directors amounted to criminal negligence causing death or manslaughter never came to trial." [1]

Nonetheless, after the Inquiry report was published and following a request from the Attorney General of Nova Scotia, the federal Minister of Justice agreed to begin examining the issue of corporate liability. In addition, a Private members Bill (C-284) - supported by the Steel Workers Union - was debated in parliament and as a result of a vote on 19 Feb 2003, a decision was taken to refer the subject matter of the bill to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights for its consideration.

The Standing Committee heard from 30 witnesses. Most witnesses called for reform of the law governing corporate criminal liability but there was no consensus on the appropriate model. In November 2002, the Government then published a response to the Committee, and set out its proposals. It stated:

"The Standing Committee's decision to call for tabling legislation without weighing the presentations made to it and developing a consensus as to the principles that should be reflected in the amendments to the criminal law leaves the Government to draw its own conclusions from its review of the presentations of witnesses and comments by individual Committee members."

Footnotes

[1] Government Response to Fifteenth Report on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (see text) Back