The owners of Lakeland Mills say they are willing to share any information the coroner considers relevant but have taken issue with the tone coroner's counsel John Orr has used during the inquest into the fatal blast that leveled the operation's sawmill nearly three years ago.
On Friday, Orr called on Lakeland to waive client-solicitor privilege and share the results of an investigation into the April 23, 2012 explosion carried out by a forensic engineer the company had hired, saying it would be "Unconsionable" to refuse the request.
In a prepared statement issued Monday, company spokesman Cam McAlpine labeled Orr's comment "disparaging." He went on to say Orr "has taken a prosecutorial stance to this inquest, including describing witness testimony in open court as 'incomprehensible' and 'unbelievable' and questioning the integrity of other counsel and our company."
"Lakeland Mills has been owned and run by two local families in the community for over 50 years. The Stewarts and Andersens have proven their integrity, honesty and commitment to this community and to have it questioned by an agent of the state who is supposed to be a third party is unacceptable."
On Monday morning, Lapointe rescinded her decision that the investigation, carried out by U.S.-based CASE forensics was protected by client-solicitor privilege but held off on requesting the information until she's heard from inquest counsel at the end of today's testimony.
Later in the morning, Lakeland counsel Gavin Marshall offered to provide some clarity on the issue that may speed things up but was rebuffed by Lapointe, who said the matter can wait until the end of the day.
McAlpine said Lakeland counsel had intended to come into the courtroom Monday morning and tell the coroner they were "more than happy to cooperate and provide her with any information she feels is relevant."
He said it was not released at the outset because Lakeland believed it would not make a material difference to the inquest's outcome. As well, McAlpine said a report summarizing the findings was never written by CASE Forensics and the legal company that represents Lakeland no longer retains the firm.
"What they have are tens of thousands of documents in file folders and on hard drives that were never turned into a final report and which we didn't see the need to have done," McAlpine said.
As WorkSafe B.C. counsel said when the topic was first raised Friday, McAlpine said there is nothing unusual about a company conducting its own investigation. "There was, in their words, 'nothing nefarious or improper' in doing so; in fact, it would be 'highly unusual' for anyone to not do such an investigation."
Prior to testimony beginning on Monday, Orr clarified his intent behind the use of the word "unconscionable," saying there is "absolutely nothing wrong" with a company hiring its own investigator.
"My use of the term was meant within the context of this inquest and it would be unconsionable for us to not receive that information," Orr said.
McAlpine said that was not good enough for Lakeland.
"We feel that the company's integrity is still left in question based on the statements that Mr. Orr made this morning," McAlpine said. "He didn't clarify as well as he could have what he meant."
Also on Monday, the United Steelworkers withdrew its counsel from the inquest and repeated its call for a public inquiry into the incident that left two men dead - Glenn Roche and Al Little - and injured 22 others, many seriously.
"Over the past week, the inquest has heard how WorkSafeBC's failure to carry out its mandate to ensure the health and safety of workers resulted in a complete mishandling of sawmill safety both before and after the explosion," the union's Western Canada director Steven Hunt said in a statement.
"Despite this tragic failure to do its job, the agency is not being held accountable."
As a result of relying upon WorkSafeBC's flawed investigation, the RCMP and B.C. Safety Authority also produced failed investigations, the union said.
