QEC fined after workplace death of Noah Paniyuk

Qulliq Energy Corp. pleaded guilty Tuesday to a workplace safety offence that resulted in the death of QEC electrician Noah Paniyuk in Naujaat on July 5, 2024.

He was electrocuted while working on an emergency generator that had not been de-energized in the hamlet.

Justice Mark Mossey accepted a joint sentencing submission from the prosecution and defence, calling for a $240,000 fine, as well as a 15 percent victim fine surcharge of $36,000.

The Safety Act provides for a maximum fine of $500,000 in cases where an employer is guilty of an offence.

“The prosecution and, in particular, the attorney general of Nunavut and the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission of the N.W.T. and Nunavut are satisfied that this has been an appropriate disposition,” John Cliffe, a lawyer representing the prosecution, said during the sentencing hearing in an Iqaluit courtroom.

The charges and the fine levied against QEC are the first the corporation, owned by the Government of Nunavut, has faced.

“QEC acknowledges its responsibility as the employer, under the Safety Act, and its failure on July 5, 2024, to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the Mr. Paniyuk’s health and safety, before and during work, on and inside the emergency generating unit,” QEC’s lawyer Jennifer King said in court.

The safety commission said in a news release that after its investigation into the accident, it filed nine charges against QEC on June 26, 2025. As part of the agreement, QEC pleaded guilty to one charge, and the other eight were dropped.

QEC executives including president and CEO Ernest Douglas, vice-presidents James Arreak and Alex Guilbeault, as well as corporate affairs director Tina Mandeya were present in court for the sentencing.

“We did plead guilty to one offence, and as you heard in the court, it was important for us to do that for accountability and transparency,” Douglas said outside the courtroom afterward.

“We had an appropriate safety program in place at the time of the incident, but what’s really important is how that’s applied on the ground in every community by every employee every day.”

Cliffe read in court that safety and operational briefings, or tailboard meetings, were held at the job site before the start of work that took place between July 2 and 5, prior to the maintenance on the emergency generating unit. But there was an unplanned power outage in Naujaat on July 5.

“As the work on the [emergency generating unit] was a change in work, a tailboard meeting should have been held at which the hazards of working on the switch gear and the EGU, and controls required to eliminate the hazards, were discussed and required documentation completed,” Cliffe said.

QEC agreed to pay the imposed fine within one month.

Members of Noah Paniyuk’s family were present in court but declined to comment on the sentence.