Information and Court Details
Information No.: 10-1392
Ontario Court of Justice Provincial Offences Court
Her Majesty the Queen v. Linamar Holdings Inc. c.o.b. as Transgear Manufacturing
Reasons for Sentence
Before: Justice of the Peace J.J. Ziegler
Date: August 22nd, 2012
Location: Guelph, Ontario
Appearances
- J. Malabar – Crown Prosecutor, Ministry of Labour
- R. Little – Counsel for Linamar Holdings Inc. c.o.b. as Transgear Manufacturing
Reasons for Sentence
ZIEGLER, J.P. (Orally):
Thank you very much. I appreciate all of the hard work that both Ms. Malabar and Mr. Little have done in order to come up with this joint submission. I appreciate Ms. Malabar going through the analysis that the Ministry made in respect to what the appropriate fine would be in respect to Linamar at Transgear in regard to the very serious injuries suffered by Mr. Aramini and also in consideration of the two convictions that Linamar had in neighbouring facilities; one was Camcor and the other was Camtac. One was a fatality and the fine ended up being, on a guilty plea and joint submission, $225,000.00. And one was a critical injury at Camtac and the fine on that one was $100,000.00. And, in respect to the fine amount, given the fact that Linamar at Transgear took immediate action after the injury of Mr. Aramini and considering the prior two convictions, I'm satisfied that the parties have come up with an amount that's appropriate in the circumstances; recognizing the seriousness of what happened, recognizing the general deterrence that we want for the industry and the specific deterrence we want for Linamar, but at the same time—and looking at the fact that the maximum fine is $500,000.00, and at the same time being still a significant amount for Linamar to pay. So I am in total agreement with the submission in respect to the fine amount.
In respect to the other concerns that I did raise in my decision, this Exhibit Number One on sentencing goes a long way to satisfy me that Linamar has not only taken immediate steps after the accident occurred, but over the following years has taken steps to protect workers from a situation where, as identified in my decision there was the confusion between lockout and troubleshooting, to eliminate that confusion and to recognize troubleshooting and lockout to be both dealt with at the same time when it comes to hazardous machinery like the KVA003 that we dealt with in this decision.
And I'm pleased to see even more recently that in May of this year, after the decision, Linamar even took additional steps which, I presume, did take into account some of the points that I raised in the decision. And, consequently, I'm satisfied with what's being recommended. I think it's appropriate. I think it is both general and specific deterrence and I'm satisfied with the actions taken by Linamar to date to address the issues that were raised in the evidence and in my decision and, consequently, I will order a fine of $150,000.00 plus costs and surcharge. In respect to this matter, what timeline would you like on that?
MR. LITTLE: In order to ensure appropriate processing, I always ask for 90 days if I could just to make sure.
THE COURT: And I'm prepared to give you more than that. I...
MR. LITTLE: Ninety days will be fine.
THE COURT: Yes, okay. That is to be paid then within 90 days. And is there anything else that you think I should address?
MS. MALABAR: That's it, Your Worship.
MR. LITTLE: That's it, thank you.
THE COURT: Okay, thank you very much.
MS. MALABAR: Thank you, Your Worship.
...WHEREUPON THESE PROCEEDINGS WERE CONCLUDED
Certificate of Transcript
FORM 2
I, Tania Staniscia, certify that this document is a true and accurate transcript of the recording of R. v. Linamar Holdings Inc. c.o.b. as Transgear Manufacturing in the Ontario Court of Justice (Provincial Offences) held at 59 Carden Street, Guelph, Ontario taken from the digital recording on August 22nd, 2012 which has been certified in Form 1.
October 26th, 2012
Tania Staniscia
Transcript Ordered: August 22nd, 2012
Transcript Completed: October 26th, 2012
Ordering Party Notified: October 26th, 2012