YELLOWKNIFE - The widows of nine miners killed in one of Canada's worst mass murders have lost a $10-million civil judgment.
The Northwest Territories Supreme Court has overturned an earlier ruling that said blame for the underground blast at the Giant Mine that killed their husbands was shared by a number of parties, including the Canadian Auto Workers union and the territorial government.
The court ruled that the original judge didn't weigh whether Roger Warren, now serving a life sentence for the murders, would have set the explosives if the defendants had acted differently.
"The trial judge should have considered whether Warren would have been diverted from his intended course of conduct if any of the appellants had acted reasonably,'' says the judgment released late last week.
The murders occurred in 1992 during a vicious labour dispute at the now-closed Yellowknife mine. The nine victims, all replacement workers, were caught in a cataclysmic, deliberately set underground explosion.
In 1994, the territory's Workers' Compensation Board filed a lawsuit to try to recoup some money to help support the widows and their families, which included 17 children.
In 2004, a judge found responsibility for creating the conditions that led to the blast was shared by the union and two union officials, the government, Pinkerton's security and now-defunct mine owner Royal Oak Mines.
Justice Arthur Lutz awarded $10 million in damages, after which all six parties filed appeals.
Jeff Champion, lawyer for the widows, said his clients are disappointed and frustrated.
"They are feeling quite devastated this week.''
He said he's been instructed to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
"When proper consideration and application of the relevant legal principles takes place, not only will the judgment be restored, we'll probably end up increasing the damage awards,'' he suggested.
During arguments in Yellowknife last October, union lawyer Lyle Kanee said that holding the national office responsible for the actions of a member of a local affiliate union was like blaming a hockey coach for an out-of-control goon or parents for the crimes of their children. Individuals are responsible for their own actions, he said.
Peter Gibson, representing the N.W.T., said it was not the job of mine safety inspectors to protect miners against violence.
And John Hope, representing Pinkerton's, which provided mine site security during the sometimes violent strike, said nobody could have predicted Warren's extreme action.
Doreen Hourie, whose husband Norm was killed in the blast, was the only one of the widows to attend court.
"The enablers don't want to stand up to the plate and take their part of the responsibility for what happened,'' she said outside court.
Speaking to The Canadian Press at the time, she said the day her husband died remains with her.
"People always think there's going to be closure, that time will ease,'' she said. "It doesn't. ''
"When something like this happens to your family, the pain stays with you, the hurt stays with you and your husband stays with you.''
Most of the children have now grown up without the support the lawsuit was intended to provide, said Hourie, who stays in touch with the other widows.
"It's been a struggle for the families. Some children were in Grade 1 when this happened and they haven't had a chance at secondary education. There's no money.''
While all of the widows remain alive, some are in poor health.
"This plays on your health, on your emotions, financially, everything,'' she said. "It's really hard.''
The widows have been receiving a standard pension from the N.W.T. Worker's Safety and Compensation Commission, said Champion.
"It falls very short of compensating them fully for what they lost.''
