Lifeguard charged with negligence in northern Alberta drowning
A 25-year-old lifeguard has been charged following the 2020 drowning of a 34-year-old man at a Fort McMurray rec complex.
RCMP were called to MacDonald Island Park on Dec. 12, 2020, to help paramedics with a drowning in the swimming pool.
The injured man was taken to hospital and later transferred to an Edmonton facility. He died on Dec. 18, 2020.
On Tuesday, RCMP announced that after a "lengthy investigation," the lifeguard has been charged with criminal negligence causing death but an investigator in the case wouldn't explain why exactly.
"What people need to keep in mind is that sometimes criminal negligence has to do with something someone did, or on the flip side, sometimes the offence has to do with something someone omitted to do that was in their duty to do," Const. Denzil Morey told CTV News Edmonton.
Morey said witnesses, staff members and swimmers were interviewed in the case and video of the incident was collected, adding that more details will come out in court.
The accused, now a resident of Calgary, is set to appear in Fort McMurray Provincial Court on Nov. 22.
Lawyer Peter Sankoff said, generally speaking, criminal negligence is hard to prove and has to be more than just what would commonly be considered a "mistake" at work.
"It's not a matter of negligence in a sense of they did a bad job, or they are liable in a civil suit, it's gotta be more than that. To qualify as criminal negligence it's got to be a marked and substantial departure from the ordinary standard care. It's a high threshold," he explained to CTV News Edmonton.
"I don't know the facts of the case, but I'm willing to assume that the lifeguard didn't intentionally fail at what they're doing. So now you're trying to decide that limitation where bad is too bad. And that is ultimately the decision for a jury of your peers."
Sentences for criminal negligence causing death range from probation to a life sentence, Sankoff said, depending on the factors of the case and a person's history.
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo declined to comment on the case.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nicole Weisberg
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests about relationship with Prince Harry
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Boy Scouts of America is rebranding. Here's why they're now named Scouting America
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Rape, terror and death at sea: How a boat carrying Rohingya children, women and men capsized
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca