Shantanu Roy

The Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) brought a motion seeking to dismiss the application of the corporate applicant, The Campaign for the Inclusion of People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (the "Campaign"), for lack of standing, and to stay the application of the individual applicants, Ian Silver and Keith Golem, pending arbitration.

The court found that the Campaign was not a "complainant" under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act as it lacked a private right and reasonable expectation, and its representative authority was questionable.

The court also determined that the individual applicants' oppression claims were subject to arbitration clauses in the CHS by-laws.

Consequently, the Campaign's application was dismissed, and the Individual Applicants' application was stayed pending arbitration.

Costs were awarded to the CHS.

A worker fell approximately 22 feet from a roof while operating a motorized buggy to dump garbage during a re-roofing project.

The defendant corporation was charged with two counts under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to ensure prescribed fall protection measures were carried out.

The defendant had installed a guardrail system and provided fall protection equipment, but the worker removed the guardrails without tying off.

The court found the actus reus proven beyond a reasonable doubt and rejected the defendant's due diligence defence, finding no clear process was in place for the alternative garbage disposal method at the time of the accident.

The Crown prosecuted an employer for two offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act following the fatal fall of an experienced welder from a temporary A-frame and plank platform at a height of approximately 6.5 feet.

Count 1 alleged failure to install guardrails at the open sides of a raised wood platform contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the OHSA.

Count 2 alleged failure to provide information, instruction and supervision to protect the worker from falling contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the OHSA.

The defendant did not advance a due diligence defence.

The court found that section 13 of the Industrial Establishments Regulation, which requires guardrails at open sides of raised surfaces, applies only to fixed premises attached to buildings, not to temporary mobile equipment.

Section 85 of the same regulation, which governs fall protection equipment, forms a complete code for this type of temporary platform work and does not require guardrails at heights below 3 metres.

The Crown improperly attempted to extend requirements beyond the applicable regulation through the general duty clause.

Both charges were dismissed.

The defendant was charged with impaired driving and refusing to provide a breath sample following a traffic stop for speeding.

The defendant applied to stay proceedings based on alleged Charter violations and sought to exclude evidence.

The court found no merit to the Charter claims.

On the merits, the court found the defendant not guilty of impaired driving but guilty of refusing to provide a breath sample.

The court rejected the defendant's testimony as unreliable due to significant contradictions with audio and video evidence.

The court found the defendant understood the instructions but deliberately failed to comply with the breath sample demand due to his intoxicated state and defiant attitude.

The defendant, Reliable Wood Shavings Inc., was convicted of four offences under section 25 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act arising from a workplace accident on July 14, 2009, in which an employee died.

Counts 1, 3, and 4 were stayed pursuant to the Kienapple principle, with conviction registered on count 2 only.

The employee, Glen Gallinger, suffocated after falling into a truck box while attempting to dislodge stuck wood shavings using an unsafe procedure prescribed by the defendant.

The court found the defendant guilty of failing to ensure safe work procedures and failing to take reasonable precautions for worker protection.

At sentencing, the Crown sought $140,000 while the defendant sought $40,000-$70,000.

The court imposed a fine of $115,000 with two years to pay, emphasizing general deterrence and the seriousness of workplace fatalities.

The defendant, Reliable Wood Shavings Inc., was charged with four offences under section 25 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act arising from the death of Glen Gallinger, an employee who was asphyxiated while attempting to dislodge sawdust from a silo at a customer's facility.

The court found that the defendant failed to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect its worker.

The defendant's prescribed procedure was unsafe and impractical, the written instructions were defective, and the defendant failed to address the inherently dangerous conditions at the worksite despite having knowledge of the hazards.

The court found the defendant guilty on counts 2, 3, and 4, with count 1 stayed pursuant to the Kienapple principle.