Coronor Inquest Underway In Death Of Edwin Davis

A coroner’s inquest into the death of a 74-year-old Fort Frances man on Little Manitou Lake is now underway in Dryden Court.
Edwin Ted Davis was working for Manitou Gold and was in the early stages of building a winter road when the Bombardier groomer he was operating went through the ice near Barkers Bay.
The incident happened on February 2nd, 2011 just a couple of weeks after accepting the job.
Day 1 of the inquest today focused on ice conditions and safety procedures.
The 5 member jury heard that Edwin Davis, his father Rodney and friend Leonard Mackie were working on the project that day.
Edwin was the only one employed by Manitou Gold and the other two were just helping out.
Edwin got separated from the group and when he didn’t return, the other two searched the Lake.
They found a hole with a large sheet of ice sticking out and determined that’s where the groomer went through.
Rodney Davis told the jury that there was 12-15 inches of ice on the lake and there was slush but reported no cracks in the ice.
He added that his son didn’t have any official training but had years of experience plowing and grooming that lake.
A victim impact statement from Leonard Mackie read in court stated that Edwin spent 45-years on that lake and knew what he was doing.
Mackie went on to say that he was the one who checked the ice depth by using a chainsaw with a 16-inch bar.
He believes there was a bad fracture in the area of the mishap.
The second witness on the stand was OPP Constable Scott Davidson.
Davidson says the groomer went through the ice roughly 2-miles away from shore.
He told the jury that the area was full of slush and it made it difficult to get through.
He also stated that Edwin Davis wasn’t wearing a personal floatation device when they found his body and the groomer didn’t have an escape hatch.
Davidson also commented on discussions he had with the OPP Dive team that the ice wasn’t good and had 12-inches of very poor ice, on top of 12-inches of solid ice.
Pictures of the scene and a video of the underwater dive were submitted into evidence.
The panel hearing the case could bring forward recommendations on ice road operations, safety, training and winter mining operations in the area.
Regional Coroner Dr. Michael Wilson is hearing the case and his counsel is Elizabeth Hellinga