Elliot Lake inquiry report: warning signs met with apathy

The goal was not to lay blame, but the commissioner of the Elliot Lake Inquiry let few off the hook in his final report today.

Justice Paul Bélanger noted there were many failings — from designers, builders, mall owners, architects, engineers and government officials.

“Some of these failings were minor. Some were not,” said Bélanger during a press conference Wednesday morning in the small northern Ontario town.

“They range from apathy, neglect and indifference, to mediocrity, ineptitude, and incompetence all the way to outright greed, obfuscation and duplicity.”

Bélanger noted warning signs over the years were ignored for fear of jeopardizing the mall's existence, the potential loss of tax revenue and the retirement community's social hub.

‘We will never know for sure’

As for the rescue effort, Belanger found it was well-intentioned, but it also had many failings.

While Perizzolo's death was "mercifully quick," Aylwin might have lived for as long as 39 hours, Bélanger concluded.

He noted there were "tantalizing" signs she was alive for some time: responsive tapping, a muffled voice, and indications from search dogs.

"There exists a possibility she might have been rescued," he writes. "But we will never know for sure."

Gary Gendron, Aylwin's fiance, said the final report confirms what he has always believed.

“It was somewhat of a closure for me. It's sad, and it feels good at the same time.”

In all, the report makes 71 recommendations. They include setting minimum maintenance standards for buildings, beefed-up inspections, and an expanded emergency response capability.

Police, engineers, government weigh in

Reaction to the report has slowly been trickling in.

In a statement earlier today, OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes said the mall collapse “has had a lasting impact on the entire community, including the men and women of the OPP East Algoma Detachment, who continue to provide dedicated, professional, community safety services.

He said the service accepts “Commissioner Bélanger’s recommendation and have already acted to improve our response to this type of occurrence.”

The provincial police said it's already made improvements to its crisis response, including mandatory training for its major critical incident teams, who are now strategically deployed throughout the province.

The Professional Engineers of Ontario also issued a statement.

"We would like to thank Commissioner Paul Bélanger for his very thorough and thoughtful report," said PEO registrar Gerard McDonald.

"We are pleased the commissioner has chosen to endorse almost all of the 11 recommendations we made in our submission to the commission. We believe implementing these recommendations, in addition to the
others made by the commissioner that apply to our profession, will strengthen engineering practice in Ontario and help to prevent similar tragedies from occurring."

The Ontario government said it will "immediately" review the commissioner's recommendations to ensure the province is better prepared for any emergency.