The Skeena
More than two years after a tugboat sank near Kitimat, killing two crew members, the boat’s owners pleaded guilty in court to some but not all of the safety charges brought against them.
“As part of the arrangement reached on Wednesday, Wainwright Marine and Bates could see fines of up to $310,000 and the president, Mr. Bates, would be required to perform community service. As part of the plea agreement, he will not face any jail time.”
North Coast Review
A lawyer representing Wainwright Marine Services and James Geoffrey Bates, the president of parent company Bates Properties Ltd., entered guilty pleas. “The company pled guilty to three of the eight charges it was facing, while Mr. Bates pled guilty to one,” the North Coast Review reports. “The remaining charges were put aside after the Crown agreed to a stay towards them.”
The guilty pleas were related to failing to provide proper training for new workers and failing to ensure workers’ health and safety.
“As part of the arrangement reached on Wednesday, Wainwright Marine and Bates could see fines of up to $310,000 and the president, Mr. Bates, would be required to perform community service. As part of the plea agreement, he will not face any jail time,” according to the North Coast Review report.
The charges are related to the deaths of Troy Pearson and Charley Cragg, who perished when the Tugboat Ingenika sank in the frigid waters of Gardner Canal on February 10, 2021.
“Judy [Carlick-Pearson] lost her husband Troy, and Genevieve [Cragg] lost her son Charley when the tugboat Ingenika sank over two years ago. It was heartbreaking to hear Judy and Genevieve’s victim impact statements and to know that no fine will bring back their loved ones.”
Taylor Bachrach, Skeen-Bulkley Valley MP
A third member of their crew, Zac Doolan, managed to survive.
Skeen-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach was at the court in Prince Rupert.
“Judy [Carlick-Pearson] lost her husband Troy, and Genevieve [Cragg] lost her son Charley when the tugboat Ingenika sank over two years ago,” he wrote on Facebook. “It was heartbreaking to hear Judy and Genevieve’s victim impact statements and to know that no fine will bring back their loved ones.”
“It’s hard to see how the fine and community service being discussed will serve as an adequate deterrent,” he added.
Since the tragedy, the two women have been pushing to improve safety practices in the tugboat industry, including appearing in a video last year calling attention to dangerous working conditions.
“I continue to work alongside them, pushing the federal government to do its part,” Bachrach wrote. “Progress is slow, but it’s coming.”
