Following a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa, Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter was fined $600,000 and its director, Neil Greene, was fined $80,000. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act, for a total penalty of $750,000.
It’s notable that these fines came under the old sentencing provisions, before new ones took effect in June 2022 when the maximum fines for directors or officers of a corporation rose from $100,000 to $1.5 million and to $500,000 for other individuals, says Edwards.
Maximum fines against individuals were quadrupled from $25,000 to $100,000. And as of October 2023, the increase moved the maximum from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 per charge.
In addition, as of July 2022, the MLITSD now has two years to investigate and prosecute companies, directors, officers, supervisors and employees for alleged contraventions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) — compared to a previous timeline of 12 months.
“We’re kind of all holding our breath,” she says.
