Testimony Concludes At Coronor’s Inquest

The questioning changed surrounding the death of Edwin Davis in Dryden this afternoon.
The 74-year-old Fort Frances man died in February 2011 while constructing an ice road for Manitou Gold.
The coroner’s inquest moved from what happened to red tape and regulations.
Two witnesses with the Ministry of Labour were grilled about regulations and legislation surrounding work on ice.
Occupational Health and Safety Inspector Douglas Settina and Northern Director for the Ministry Peter Augruso both testified.
Both men stated there’s nothing specific in terms of legislation when someone is planning to work on ice.
Augruso described it as “patchwork regulations.”
He noted there are different rules in different areas but no stand alone policy for ice road construction.
Both men confirmed that the building of ice roads falls under construction code regulations.
Augruso admitted that he can understand why Manitou Gold President Todd Keast found it difficult to know where to go when it came to finding all of the rules and regulations.
Augruso said that there are gaps in the legislation.
Settina and Augruso did state that the Ministry has implemented new requirements in the past couple of years and they would like to work on seeing specific guidelines for ice road construction in place.
Augruso also recommended that ice roads should be deemed “high risk” in a bid to improve training and safety initiatives.
It was released at the inquiry that Manitou Gold was prosecuted, pleaded and fined for the fatal incident.
Settina confirmed that Manitou wasn’t aware of the guidelines in place to ensure the safety of its workers.
He stresses Manitou responded right away by implementing acceptable policies and procedures when working on ice.
All witnesses have now come forward in the case.
Ministry of Labour Lawyer David McCaskill, Counsel to the Coroner Elizabeth Hellinga and Manitou Gold President and CEO Todd Keast will make their final submissions to the 5-member jury tomorrow morning.
The panel hearing the case could bring forward recommendations focusing on ice road operations, safety, training and winter mining operations.