The B.C. NDP and the victims of the Burns Lake mill explosion have collaborated on a document calling for an inquiry into the blast.
NDP leader Adrian Dix says they have created a terms of reference vetted by defence lawyer, E. David Crossin showing that an inquiry could still provide changes to protect workers and closure for the Burns Lake families.
“Truth and accountability is what it will bring. I think that is a critical part of where we need to go from here to ensure that the families get the kind of accountability that they want. WorkSafeBC is denying accountability, Hampton is denying accountability. The government is allowing two agencies to point fingers at one another. And there are profound questions about what happened, what could have happened and what didn’t happen.”
According to Dix, Crossin has reviewed the terms of reference and says there is sufficient grounds for a public inquiry, which while it wouldn’t yield new charges as announced earlier by Christy Clark, would provide clarity on what went wrong.
Dix says for now his job is to keep the pressure on the provincial government to change its decision and move forward with a public inquiry.