Crown office in Ottawa to prosecute Iqaluit Safety Act charges

A case involving Safety Act charges against the City of Iqaluit and three employees has been put over until June 22. The federal Crown office in Nunavut, citing a conflict, has recused itself from the case and Crown lawyers from Ottawa will take over. (FILE PHOTO)

The federal Crown prosecution service in Nunavut, citing a conflict, has backed out of a case against the City of Iqaluit and three employees alleging violations of Nunavut’s Safety Act.

The case will now be picked up by the federal Crown prosecution service in Ottawa, Crown lawyer Doug Garson told deputy Justice John Mitchell May 1 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

That follows the laying of charges by the Worker’s Safety and Compensation Commission in April against Joseph Brown, the city’s superintendent of public works and the third person to be charged in the case.

Brown made his first appearance in court the same day.

The charges relate to the near-fatal injury of James Dorrington, who was run over by a garbage truck while on the job on April 18, 2016.

The WSCC executed a search warrant on City of Iqaluit records in July 2016, pulling numerous documents related to employee certification, equipment inspections and staff training.

The City of Iqaluit, supervisor Keith Baines, and employee Ben Kovic Jr. were charged under Nunavut’s Safety Act this past January.

James Dorrington was medevaced immediately to Ottawa for emergency surgery.

At the time, Iqaluit councillors slammed city administrators for not informing council immediately after the event—with some councillors claiming they only heard about the accident days later over Twitter.

To give new lawyers time get up to speed, Mitchell adjourned the case until June 22.