City of Greater Sudbury, Interpaving charged in pedestrian death

The Ontario Ministry of Labour has laid charges against the City of Greater Sudbury and Interpaving Limited in the crushing death of a pedestrian on a downtown construction site in September2015.

The city is facing seven charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, while Interpaving, the company it contracted for the re-paving of Elgin Street last summer, is facing three charges.

They all stem from Sept. 30, 2015, when 58-year-old Cecile Paquette was crossing the street and was backed over by a grader and killed.

Specifically, Interpaving is charged with not providing signallers for the grader operator, not erecting a 1.8 metre "sturdy fence" to separate the public from the construction site and not implementing a traffic protection plan.

The city is charged with the same three offences, plus not ensuring that its contractor Interpaving was following those three sections of the health and safety act. The city is also facing an additional charge of not ensuring that all "workers and employers" were following provincial safety laws in general.

The City of Greater Sudbury declined to comment, but in a statement says that it "continues to make health and safety a number one priority. We continue to uphold industry best practices for ourselves and our contracted work."

Interpaving did not reply to CBC's requests for comment on this story.

The city has since banned Interpaving from bidding on municipal contracts, although the company is able to work as a sub-contractor for firms who successfully land city jobs.

The first appearance in provincial offences court, which is ironically held at Sudburycity hall, is set for Oct. 14.

The facts of this accident are also before civil courts, as the family of CecilePaquette is suing the city and Interpaving for $2 million.