Answers still sought two years after miner’s death

Two years after her partner was killed in a mining incident, Celina Danis is still looking for answers and some assurance that what happened to the father of her children won’t happen to anyone else.

The provincial government, however, isn’t saying why it declined to lay workplace safety charges in connection with Chad Wiklun’s death two days after he was crushed underground at Agrium Inc.’s Vanscoy potash mine on Aug. 8, 2016.

In an interview on the second anniversary of the incident, Danis said she was initially at peace with the decision not to lay charges, in part because Wiklun would have wanted her to put the details behind her and move on.

However, that changed when she learned the last two fatal incidents at the mine west of Saskatoon led to Occupational Health and Safety Act charges being laid and, in at least one case, a hefty fine, she said.

“Agrium was really great to us. We’re not looking for money ( but) the only way to ensure that this is never going to happen again is to hit the company where it hurts.”

United Steelworkers (USW ) Local 7552 president Darrin Kruger echoed that sentiment on Tuesday, saying charges serve to make all employers more accountable and all workplaces safer.

Following a second non-fatal incident less than a month after Wiklun’s death, representatives of Agrium and USW Local 7552 — which represents workers at the mine — both acknowledged that safety underground was a concern.

Danis acknowledged that Wiklun’s death was likely a case of “wrong place, wrong time,” but questioned why concerns raised after his death do not indicate that more could have been done to prevent it from happening.

On Tuesday, one day before the two-year window to lay charges expired, the provincial government confirmed that no action will be taken against the company, now part of Nutrien Ltd.

“The legal opinion provided by the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety regarding charges is privileged information and will not be released,” the government said in a statement Wednesday.

“When deciding whether or not to lay charges, consideration is given to if it is in the public interest, if there is an appropriate charge in the … legislation, and if there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction under the circumstances.”

Not every workplace fatality results in charges, but the previous two at Agrium’s Vanscoy mine did.

In 2012, two years after 59-yearold Edward Artic was killed when a component fell from a hanging load and struck his head, Agrium pleased guilty to a single charge of failing to provide a safe workplace

We’re not looking for money (but) the only way to ensure that this is never going to happen again is to hit the company where it hurts

and was fined $420,000.

Agrium contractor PCL Construction was charged after one of its employees, 25-year-old Andrew Hann, died after falling 20 metres from a steel scaffold at the mine in 2013.

That matter was concluded by an extrajudicial settlement.

Nutrien declined to comment.