Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Tuktoyaktuk (Mar 11/02) - The hamlet is urging the chief coroner to hold an inquest into the Feb. 4 ice road collision that left a 38-year-old Tuktoyaktuk man dead.

Hamlet council passed a motion Feb. 20 calling for an inquest into the accident.

Carl Smith was hit by an oncoming semi-trailer while he was working on a snow tractor that had broken down by the side of the road, about 100 kilometres northeast of Tuktoyaktuk. He was killed on impact, while his co-worker, Troy Cahoon was thrown clear of the truck and escaped serious injury.

Police have said there was no reason to lay charges against the driver of the semi-trailer. But Cahoon's family says someone should be held responsible for the accident. Cahoon's mother, Anna Mae Fairley, says the family has hired a lawyer and will pursue legal action against the truck driver and Mullen Trucking, based in Alberta.

"There's a lot of frustration out there and it gets muddled with the different stories that everybody spins," says Mayor Eddie Dillon. "So let's get some clarity and some recommendations made so we can get a clear picture of what happened.'"

The Worker's Compensation Board and the National Energy Board were both investigating the accident. Each agency has the power to lay charges in workplace accidents but because the collision occurred on a private ice road leading to a workplace, the incident falls into a jurisdictional grey area.

According to a spokesperson for the NEB, their investigation is complete. "NEB will not be filing any charges because we do not believe we have any jurisdiction here," says Charlene Gaudet-Sleep. "We will be issuing a safety alert to the oil and gas industry which we hope will be helpful to prevent a similar kind of accident."

A spokesperson for the WCB says their investigation is continuing.

Chief coroner Percy Kinney says he must wait for the WCB to complete their investigation before he can write his report, or call an inquest.

"Just because an inquest hasn't been called, doesn't mean nothing's being done," Kinney says. "The decision to hold an inquest is step 212 and I'm still at step 12. What drives the interest in an inquest is the facts, or not being able to get the facts."

Kinney and representatives from the WCB will be attending the next hamlet meeting March 20 to answer to the council's concerns.