Union demands release of fatality report

Claims issues around transparency, accountability

The United Steelworkers union (USW) is demanding that the family of a man killed in 2014 at the North American Palladium Lac des Iles be provided with the final reports on how 38-year-old Pascal Goulet died.

"This hide-and-seek game being played by the employer and Ministry of Labour is prolonging the suffering and pain for Pascal's family," said Marty Warren, Ontario/Atlantic director of USW.

"Workplace fatalities should never be wrapped up so tightly in red tape that families are denied their right to know," said Warren, adding that Goulet's death should have been treated as crime scene, with full investigation under provisions of the Criminal Code enacted in 2004.

"Instead, work resumed at the Lac Des Iles mine less than 18 hours after the Pascal was killed," he said. "Now, the company is denying access to its final report. The Ministry of Labour and the company are also denying access to copies (of) charges filed against North American Palladium under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act."

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