Manitoba fined $100,000 following 2022 firefighter death

The province has been fined $100,000 under the Workplace Health and Safety Act following the death of a firefighter in The Pas in 2022.

The Province of Manitoba has been fined $100,000 under the Workplace Health and Safety Act in connection with the death of a firefighter.

The penalty was issued in a courtroom in The Pas on Friday, stemming from a July 2022 incident in which 23-year-old Riley Manych-Pich died after an ATV rollover while working for the Manitoba Wildfire Service.

Court documents show the province pleaded guilty to three charges under the act, while a fourth charge was stayed. Court heard that a four-person crew involved in the incident was wearing hard hats, but not the specialized helmets required.

“It’s been a very emotional roller coaster,” said Candy Jones, Manych-Pich’s mother.

“My son’s death weighs very heavy on a lot of people, not just his family and friends, but also all of his colleagues at The Pas Fire Department and also the fire attack crew.”

Jones said her son was participating in a training exercise involving ATVs when some of the group members became stuck. She said Manych-Pich returned to base to retrieve a battery pack to assist another rider, and his quad rolled during the effort.

“There was no proper PPE (protective personal equipment) supplied,” she said.

Jones added that while she believes Provincial Court Justice Todd Rambow did what he could under the law, she feels the penalty does not reflect the value of her son’s life.

“I don’t think any life is only worth $100,000,” Jones said. “The time that’s been taken away from us, the time that’s been taken like his siblings, the things that he missed out on, is worth far more than that.”

Court heard ten victim impact statements, she said, which depicted how “everybody’s life has changed now that he’s gone.”

While she said new measures are being implemented such as new regulations surrounding training, she said nothing can ever bring her son back.

“The problem here now is I’m without my son, so having these steps going forward doesn’t bring him back… His life is over because they didn’t already have the proper protocols in place,” she said.

A source who worked with Manych-Pich and considered him a friend, he believes the penalty is “absolutely inconsequential.”

“All that’s happening is a $100,000 fine is going from one ledger of the provincial government to another ledger within the provincial government,” he said, adding he is speaking on the condition of anonymity because of possible reprisals.