LEGAL REPORT: LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
Is Bill C-45 a paper tiger? W
Quebec ruling in a deadly workplace accident raises concerns over the relevance of Criminal Code amendments that hold negligent employers criminally liable. BY MARK CARDWE LL
hen Bill C-45 was passed by Parlia- ment a few months before it came into law in March 2004,
Canada's then-minister of Justice Mar- tin Cauchon called its Westray mine- inspired provisions on workplace safety and corporate liability a major step to- wards ensuring that employers would be held responsible for criminally negligent acts. "This legislation," Cauchon said on Oct. 30, 2003, "sends a strong message that all employees deserve such vital protection under the law."
www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JUNE 2008 33
ILLUSTRATION: DARCY MUENCHRATH
