Calgary plumbing company fined $330,000 in trench death of worker

Liam Johnston's girlfriend, Emily Gofton, posted on social media that Johnston's father was among those who placed flowers and notes at the site of a trench collapse.

A Calgary plumbing company has been ordered to pay $330,000 after pleading guilty to an Occupational Health and Safety charge in the death of a 27-year-old apprentice who was buried in a collapsed trench in 2023.

Justice Gordon Krinke accepted a joint sentencing submission Monday for Mr. Mike’s Plumbing in connection with the death of Liam Johnston.

The sentence includes a $115,000 fine and a $215,000 creative sentence payment to the University of Alberta’s Injury Prevention Centre.

The money will be used to develop a workplace safety campaign aimed at helping young Alberta workers recognize unsafe conditions, understand the consequences of dangerous work and overcome barriers to refusing unsafe tasks.

Johnston was working on sewer repairs in northwest Calgary on June 8, 2023, when the trench collapsed, burying him under soil and debris.

Court heard it took nearly 12 hours and the removal of about 25 dump-truck loads of dirt to recover his body.

Mr. Mike’s Plumbing pleaded guilty to one count of failing to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, Johnston’s health and safety.

Other charges were withdrawn.

Before sentencing submissions, court heard emotional victim impact statements from Johnston’s fiancée, Emily Gofton; his mother, Kim Ivison; and his stepfather, Adam Groves.

“Someone once told Liam and me that when we were together, it was like there was nobody else in the room with us,” Gofton said.

“And now, here with you all, I find myself in that room all alone. When Liam died, I didn’t just lose my best friend and the person that I loved. I lost the life that we had planned together and the person that I was before that day.

“I lost the safest place I’ve ever known.”

Gofton, who had also worked for Mr. Mike’s Plumbing, said receiving the news shattered her world.

“As if losing him wasn’t enough, I was also left to face the responsibility of calling his parents, having to tell them that their son had been buried alive at work,” she said.

“The heartbreak of hearing a mother and father learn that their son will never come home is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

“(It’s) a responsibility that should never have been mine.”

She also described how construction sites have become a constant reminder of Johnston’s death.

“Instead of seeing people simply doing their jobs, I find myself inspecting the site for signs that something is wrong, hoping that somehow I can protect them and hoping that nobody else experiences what Liam did,” she said.

Gofton ended her statement by describing the love and future the couple had lost.

“If love could have saved Liam, he would have lived forever,” she said.

“I will spend the rest of my life carrying a love that has nowhere to go, a love that was once the greatest source of happiness in my life now turns to grief every time I reach for it.

“That is a pain that no outcome could ever heal.”

Johnston’s mother, Kim Ivison, told court her son’s death compounded the psychological injuries she suffered during a nearly 20-year career as an ambulance communications officer.

“The deepest wound for me is that the type of preventable harm that haunted me throughout my career is the same type of loss that ultimately took my son,” she said.

“I cannot separate the loss of my son from the long-held belief that people have a responsibility—a responsibility to protect those in their care.”

Ivison also said Johnston’s photograph remained on the company’s website safety section for four months after his death.

“It was painful to see my son’s photograph associated with a part of the business that was supposed to represent worker safety when he lost his life at work,” she said.

Ivison said the photograph remained online until Oct. 11, 2023, when she contacted the company and asked that it be removed.

“Having to make that request myself was deeply upsetting,” she said.

“It felt like an additional burden placed on me while I was already struggling to cope with the loss of my son.”

She said her son’s death continues to affect every part of her life and every relationship she has.

“This is not isolated grief,” Ivison said.

“It is ongoing trauma.”

She also described grieving the future her son never had the chance to live.

“I will not see him build his business. I will not see him buy his first home,” she said.

“What has been lost is not just who Liam was, but everything he was going to be.”

Groves described Johnston as the person who held the family together.

“He was the bridge between us, the steady presence who kept our family connected. Without him, we felt a deep rupture—a gap in our unity,” he said.

Groves also referred to Johnston’s photograph remaining in the safety section of the company’s website after his death.

He said it “was only removed after we personally requested that it be taken down.”

Groves said the family had imagined watching Johnston marry, build a career and eventually have children.

“Those dreams were stolen from us along with Liam’s life,” he said.

“For our family, the loss is immeasurable. We’re left carrying a grief that cannot be quantified, negotiated or compensated.”

He ended his statement by directly addressing the person he holds responsible.

“This is not just a statistic or a case file. It’s a family forever shattered,” Groves said.

“No outcome of this trial can change the fact that Liam is gone. Nothing can restore the future that was taken from him or our family. We will carry this loss and burden for the rest of our lives.

“I will not stop telling his story. I will never let his loss be forgotten. No matter what anyone says, I know who did this to us. You.”

Following the victim impact statements, company owner Mike Brock addressed the court and accepted responsibility on behalf of Mr. Mike’s Plumbing.

“I know nothing I can say today will ease the suffering endured by Liam’s loved ones. I think about Liam and June 8, 2023, every day, and I am deeply sorry that a young man lost his life while working for me,” Brock said.

“We failed as a company to provide the supervision and verification required to ensure those critical safety measures were followed before entry occurred. Our company has accepted responsibility for that failure, and I am deeply sorry for the loss we caused.

“As owner, I remain committed to ensuring that the lessons from this tragedy continue to shape how our company operates and how we protect our workers.”

In her sentencing submission, Crown prosecutor Orysha Zahaylo told court Johnston entered an excavation without adequate protection from a cave-in and said the death was preventable.

She said the joint proposal also reflected problems that could have complicated a trial, including questions about the continuity and handling of soil samples collected during the investigation, delays in obtaining expert analysis and the risk that the case could not be completed within the timelines required by law.

Zahaylo said those issues created uncertainty about whether all of the Crown’s evidence would be admitted and whether the prosecution could be completed before a potential delay application.

The Crown also cited the company’s guilty plea, its lack of a previous Occupational Health and Safety record and its acceptance of responsibility as mitigating factors.

Defence lawyer Christopher Spasoff joined the Crown in recommending the $330,000 sentence, which Krinke accepted.