Crane operator pleads guilty to causing worker’s death at Barrie job site

Crane operator Donald Balkwill pleaded guilty to criminal negligence in a 2021 fatal workplace accident in Barrie.

The Orillia man operating a crane on a Barrie construction site in June 2021 will not spend any time behind bars after pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death.

Donald Balkwill, 62, expressed remorse and took responsibility for his actions on the afternoon of June 24, 2021, along Dunlop Street West in Barrie when steel beam installer Corey Phillips died after he was crushed by a fallen beam.

“He was a good guy. Having a family that always came first, were his kids. He loved life. Him and his fiancée had just bought a camper,” said his mother, Liz Phillips, outside the Barrie courthouse.

The court heard Balkwill pleaded guilty, admitting to being unlicensed and unqualified to operate the crane he overloaded and tipped, five feet off the ground, while carrying a 4,400-pound steel beam.

The court heard Phillips may have been hit by the beam while standing atop a concrete wall. He was then knocked to the ground before another steel beam became dislodged and crashed down, crushing him. Phillips did not have his fall protection harness properly connected.

Balkwill accepted a deal from the Crown for a conditional sentence order of two years less a day - with the first year under house arrest followed by an evening curfew, avoiding time behind bars. Justice Jocelyn Speyer agreed with the joint submission from the Crown and defence.

Members of Phillips’ family delivered victim impact statements to the court outlining their grief and sadness. His mother Liz said she had a heart attack, described as Broken Heart Syndrome, that required hospitalization upon learning her son had died.

She addressed Balkwill in her statement to the court. “Because of your incompetence and reckless disregard my son didn’t come home. You get to come home with an ankle monitor and probation. Corey came home in an urn. The punishment just doesn’t seem to justify the consequences. No justice for Corey.”

The court heard through the Agreed Statement of Facts, Balkwill never passed the required crane operator’s exam and instead produced a license to his employer, North Steel, he had modified to make it appear as if he was licensed to operate that crane.

The court heard Balkwill is still employed by North Steel which was also initially charged with criminal negligence causing Phillips’ death until last year when the Crown withdrew the criminal charges against the company. Occupational Health and Safety charges against Balkwill were stayed.

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Phillips’ fiancée told the court Ministry of Labour charges could not proceed either because the statute of limitations had expired.

The court also heard Balkwill did not follow the crane manufacturer’s safety specifications that likely would’ve saved Phillips life that day, when he loaded the extended crane with more than triple the weight it should’ve been carrying at the angle the boom was positioned.

The crane was also found to have been mechanically altered to bypass an overload shutdown system.

Balkwill was not responsible for those mechanical changes, but Justice Speyer called the consequences of Balkwill’s actions “catastrophic” saying he made several choices that contributed to a dangerous situation and ought to have known those actions would have put others in harm’s way. The judge acknowledged it was clear Balkwill was remorseful and “did not set out to hurt anyone that day.”

Still, Phillips’ mother believes the man responsible for her son’s death should have paid a stiffer penalty for his actions. “I’m hoping this gives me a little of closure, but the slap on the wrist that Mr. Balkwill got just doesn’t seem like justice for Corey at all,” she said. “He lost his life. I think jail time should have been given.”

As part of his conditional sentence, Balkwill is not to operate a crane or any heavy machinery for which he isn’t licenced. Balkwill and his lawyer both declined comment on the sentence.