A Nova Scotia court ordered $260K in penalties
Nearly four years after Andrew Gnazdowsky drowned on the job, his family’s demand for accountability concluded with a Halifax court ordering $260,000 in penalties against three companies for health and safety violations.
Gnazdowsky died on October 16, 2020, while working at a Nova Scotia Power reservoir in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia. He entered the water to retrieve a piece of floating survey equipment that had malfunctioned. There was no rescue boat on site when the incident occurred.
On July 3, Judge Elizabeth Buckle sentenced Brunswick Engineering and Consulting, Gnazdowsky’s employer, to pay $102,000 for two violations of Nova Scotia’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The court found that Brunswick Engineering, based in Saint John, failed to ensure adequate and implemented safe work practices for working on or using equipment on water. The company was also found to have failed to provide rescue equipment where there was a risk of drowning. A third count of failing to ensure safe work practices, for which Brunswick Engineering had been convicted, was stayed by the court.
Gemtec Consulting Engineering and Scientists Ltd. of Fredericton was fined $61,750, while Nova Scotia Power was fined $96,250. Both were convicted of failing to ensure Brunswick Engineering employees had access to rescue equipment despite the risk of drowning.
The court also ordered each company to contribute $10,000 to a provincial trust fund supporting workplace health and safety initiatives. The Department of Labour said unions, non-profits, and workplaces can apply for up to $25,000 annually from the fund for projects that seek to improve safety and education.
The companies were charged in 2022 and convicted in August 2024. During a two-day sentencing hearing in March, 15 victim impact statements were presented, including those from Gnazdowsky’s parents and sister. They said the family “would never be the same” and described ongoing struggles since the fatal incident.
Defense lawyers argued that penalties should correspond solely to the offenses for which the companies were convicted. They said the absence of a rescue boat did not directly cause Gnazdowsky’s death. They proposed fines between $30,000 for Gemtec and $50,000 for Nova Scotia Power.
Crown prosecutor Alex Keaveny sought a maximum $200,000 fine against Nova Scotia Power, stating that such a penalty would act as a deterrent to other companies.
