Mother of electrocution victim looking for answers from inquest

LONDON More than four years after her son was electrocuted putting up a wedding tent at a Watfordarea home — a workplace tragedy she learned about on the evening news — the mother of the 21-yearold man killed is hoping an inquest this fall will provide answers.

The province announced the coroner’s investigation into Jeremy Bowley’s death Monday, a long-awaited development, said his mother Elisa Kilbourne. “We need the closure,” she said. “It’s just going to bring things very visibly to the surface.”

The 21-year-old university student died Aug. 1, 2013 when the pole of the wedding tent he was setting up struck an overhead power line at a Lambton County farmhouse. Two other Londoners, 17 and 25, were hurt, along with a 23-year-old man from West Elgin.

Bowley was working that summer on a six-person tent crew for Signature Events Rental Shoppe in London to help pay for what would have been his fourth year in the criminology program at Kings University College.

About 18 witnesses are expected to testify at the five-day inquest, which is set to begin at a London hotel Nov. 20. The jury will examine the events surrounding Bowley’s death and may make recommendations to prevent similar workplace tragedies.

Kilbourne said it’s difficult to know what to expect from the inquest, but she’s hoping the details that emerge will help protect the lives of young workers like her son.

“It’s hard to wrap my head around,” she said, “but it needs to happen.” “It’s a little unnerving.” The coroner’s inquest is the latest development in the years-long probe into the 2013 incident. In 2014, Ontario’s Ministry of Labour slapped Bowley’s employer with nine workplace safety charges.

Signature Events pleaded guilty to failing ensure the health and safety of the crew and not adequately informing, instructing or supervising its workers about the danger of overhead wires. The business was issued a $100,000 fine in February 2015, a sum it was given two years to pay.

Messages left for Signature Events owner Mari-Lea Johnston Monday went unreturned.

The Ministry of Labour’s investigation found five of the six young men on the tent crew were injured by the first electrical shock. Some workers knocked to the rainsoaked ground were dealt a second one. The victims suffered burns and limb dislocations.

The ministry also found no one from Signature Events assessed the area in advance or requested details about utilities.

Though the inquest process is a bit daunting, Kilbourne has no doubt her son would want his story to be told. After four years of waiting, she wants to see changes made to stop preventable deaths like her son’s.

“They’ll make the recommendations as they see fit,” she said.

“This is the hopeful stage, as much as it’s hard.”