Cara Loverock
Northern News Services
Published Friday, June 6, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - The two remaining charges faced by Yellowknife-based exploration company in an employee's death by bear attack were stayed this week.

Aurora Geosciences was charged by the Yukon's Worker's Compensation Board under the territory's Health and Safety Act with failing to ensure that work procedures would reduce the risk of injury and failing to ensure workers were provided necessary instruction and were adequately supervised after Jean-Francois Page was mauled to death by a grizzly bear on April 26, 2006.

Page was doing some surveying for the company when he was attacked near Ross River in central Yukon.

Thomas Ullyett, assistant deputy minister for legal services with the Yukon Department of Justice, said six charges were initially laid against Aurora Geosciences. Four of the charges were stayed in September 2007. The company was scheduled to go to trial on Monday to face the two remaining charges.

The Crown stayed the remaining charges due to new information received last week.

"In a prosecution, when the Crown has information that is relevant to the charges, it's required as a matter of law to disclose that information in a timely fashion to the defendant," said Ullyett.

"Timely usually wouldn't mean a few days before trial, so when you disclose information late invariably there's going to be an adjournment."

Ullyett said instead of going ahead with the trial at a later date, most likely in fall 2008, the prosecutor stayed the two remaining charges.

Gary Vivian, president of Aurora Geoscience, said that he is "disappointed and frustrated" that the matter will not be going to trial.

"We never got the opportunity to defend ourselves," said Vivian of the charges.

Keith Parkari, attorney for Aurora Geosciences Ltd., said he has received no further disclosure on why the negligence charges were dropped.

"I mean (Aurora Geosciences) are glad that it's over," said Parkai. "They're disappointed that they don't get their day in court. They maintain that they did everything legally and everything that they should. They were expecting to be vindicated in court."