Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 28/04) - The penultimate chapter of one of the longest trials in Canadian history wrapped up last week as lawyers in the Giant Mine civil suit made their closing arguments.

While lawyers took advantage of their last chance to address Supreme Court Justice Arthur Lutz, officials talked about where the money would go if Lutz sides with the plaintiffs -- the families of nine miners killed by a home-made bomb at Giant in 1992.

Lutz reserved his decision and it may be months before he delivers a ruling on the case.

Plaintiffs are seeking $16 million in damages from a host of defendants including the territorial government, a security firm and Royal Oak Mines. They say the defendants were negligent in allowing striking miner -- and convicted murderer -- Roger Warren to plant the fatal explosive 750ft below Giant's surface on Sept. 18, 1992.

Mike Triggs, general council for the Workers' Compensation Board, which financed the lawsuit on behalf of the families, said any award would first go towards paying off a decade worth of legal bills racked up by the WCB.

Twenty-five percent of the damages would then go directly to the relatives of the men killed in the blast and any remaining money would go to the WCB for past and future pensions.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Jeffrey Champion, also said if Lutz rules in their favour, they will ask for an order requiring the defendants to pay court costs.

While Triggs wouldn't say exactly how much the WCB has paid to lawyers during the decade long legal battle, it's believed to be in the millions of dollars.

While Triggs said he was confident Lutz would side with the WCB, a verdict in favour of the defendants could cost the WCB millions of dollars -- especially if lawyers for the defendants ask for court costs.

Triggs said the WCB, which has roughly $235 million in accident reserve fund, would just "cut a cheque" if that happened.

"We could cover those costs. But we're anticipating that we'll be successful," he said.

Former miner Jim O'Neil, who discovered the grisly remains of the miners following the blast, is also suing a host of defendants for nearly $2 million.

James Redmond, O'Neil's lawyer, said his client is plagued by nightmares and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

Redmond also attributed the breakup of O'Neil's marriage and his inability to hold a job on the carnage he witnessed after the blast, which included the discovery of the battered remains of his friend, Chris Neil.