St. Catharines man dies in Toronto workplace accident
Dean Maguire was working on upgrades at Billy Bishop Airport terminal
A St. Catharines man has been identified as the victim of a workplace accident which occurred last week at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport.
Dean Maguire, 60, a father of two daughters, died Tuesday.
He fell off the roof of the island airport. He was a subcontractor with PCL Construction and was doing cladding work at the facility.
Maguire, who was also a host with Niagara College’s homestay program that provides housing for international students, is being mourned by friends, neighbours and the college community.
“I received a text at work about 1:30 to 2 p.m. (Tuesday) from Heather, Dean’s ex-wife, in Ottawa,” said Dave Burns, Maguire’s friend and neighbour. The text said, “Dean is dead.”
“The whole bottom kind of dropped out of my world for a couple of minutes,” said Burns. “I was quite upset. I was crying.”
He and his wife Jane have known Maguire for 19 years.
“When Heather first called me, I thought it was a motor-vehicle accident because he travelled so much for work,” said Burns. “He’ll be working in Toronto; he’ll be working in Guelph. And when I heard that it was a workplace accident, I was stunned because I know Dean has always talked about wearing a proper safety harnesses.”
Toronto police have told media that Maguire was wearing a harness.
“There must have been some kind of failure along the line or something else. I don’t know,” said Burns. “I know Dean was meticulous in that kind of stuff. Dean was working for an unionized environment and it is pretty strong on health and safety requirements.”
The work he was invlved in pertained to an airport terminal upgrade.
“Billy Bishop Airport staff is fully cooperating with the investigation into this incident,” Ports Toronto spokesperson Jen Brailsford stated in an email to the Toronto Star. “We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of the gentleman involved in this accident, and are deeply saddened by this unfortunate turn of events.”
Burns said that Maguire was one of the first people he met after moving to St. Catharines.
“He has a daughter and I have a boy the same age,” he said. “We just kind of have the same interest in music, the same interest in reading.”
They played hockey together and Maguire was the first person Burns could talk to or ask a favour of.
“All my relatives are in different towns, so if I need anything on a short notice, Dean would be the guy I would call.”
According to Burns, Maguire grew up on a farm with seven siblings.
“Dean, at the end of the day was a farm boy,” said Burns. “He had a great sense of humour, and almost an encyclopaedic knowledge of music.” He added he was a self-taught musician on guitar.
“I will miss him so much,” said Burns. Ming Wong, Niagara College’s international student housing and settlement adviser, was shocked and saddened by the news. She said Maguire was a longterm host for the homestay program and often had two or three international students at a time.
“Dean was such a positive influence to the Homestay program and it is a tragedy for our program and incoming international students who would no longer be able to benefit from Dean’s care,” said Wong.
The Ministry of Labour is investigating the circumstances of Language’s incident.
“PCL is fully co-operating with authorities and conducting a full investigation into this incident,” said Liisa Morley, communications specialist at PCL Constructors Canada Inc.