Ministry of Labour Testifies At Inquest

The second day of the coroner’s inquest looking into the death of 74-year-old Edwin Davis continued to look into the circumstances surrounding his death.
A Regional Engineer with the Ministry of Labour says there wasn’t enough ice to hold a groomer that went through the ice on Manitou Lake two years ago.
Jeff Rivard testified this morning that going by Treasury Board of Canada guidelines there was a high risk of failure.
Several witnesses stated earlier that there was considerable slush on the Dryden area lake and Rivard says that should have indicated a problem and sparked further investigation by Davis and the two others he was working with.
Davis was building an ice road for Manitou Gold at the time of the incident.
Rivard says high amounts of slush lead to “white cracks”, which reduces the load bearing ability by half.
The five member jury heard that there was 8-inches of high quality “blue ice” and the groomer weighed in excess of 5,100 pounds.
Treasury Board Canada guidelines and calculations suggest 14-20 inches of ice may have been needed.
The jury also heard the manner of which the ice was tested.
Court heard that Leonard Mackie, the man working for Davis that day, tested the ice with a chainsaw.
Rivard says chainsaw measurements often lead to a high degree of mistakes.
He notes a chainsaw measures thickness and not ice quality.
Douglas Settina also testified this morning at the inquiry and echoed the findings of Rivard.
Settina is the Occupational Health and Safety Inspector with the Ministry of Labour and the lead investigator for the Ministry in the sudden death case.
Settina stated there’s no doubt that Edwin Davis had experience on Manitou Lake but notes he wasn’t aware of the guidelines and what causes slush and cracks.
Settina added that the groomer didn’t have an escape hatch and Davis wasn’t wearing a personal floatation device.
He noted that Edwin was in radio communication with his father Rodney but pointed out that Leonard Mackie didn’t have a radio device.