CNE assures safety is a 'top priority' after concerns raised ahead of opening
As the CNE readies to open this Friday, one Toronto MPP is expressing concerns about safety possibly being compromised at the 18-day fair due to ride and equipment inspectors being on strike.
On July 21, 170 inspectors with the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) went on strike after contract negotiations between their employer and their union, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), broke down.
Since then, organizers of fairs, festivals, and other large events, like the CNE, have had to bring in outside inspectors and consultants to ensure their rides and equipment are in compliance with all safety regulations.
On Saturday morning, Toronto Centre MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the situation.
Speaking with CP24 Sunday morning, Wong-Tam said the absence of dedicated TSSA safety inspectors checking rides and other equipment at the upcoming CNE amounts to “less duty of care.”
The MPP said due to the labour disruption, the operator of Canada’s largest annual event has been forced to use consultants and third-party contractors to carry out these important safety inspections.
“When we are going to be compromising public safety, we just really can’t take any chances,” said Wong-Tam said.
“The CNE, of course, we all love this amusement park. It is a major attraction for the city of TO, but we want to make sure that people are safe.”
Wong-Tam said under the present arrangement is there no guarantee that safety inspections will be done with the same level of diligence. To illustrate her point, the Toronto MPP pointed to an Aug. 5 incident involving a ride at the Campbellford Fair, which they said injured three children.
Wong-Tam said organizers of that event would have issued the “same type of assurances to members of the public.”
In the end, Wong-Tam said the goal is to bring both sides “back to the table” and reach a contract agreement so TSSA’s safety inspectors get back to work as soon as possible.
The CNE, meanwhile, is assuring the public that it will continue to maintain the “highest safety standards in the industry,” despite safety inspectors being on strike.
Darrell Brown, The CNE’s CEO, said public safety is a “top priority,” calling Wong-Tam’s assertion that safety can’t be guaranteed “misguided.”
“We do not believe that there are any safety issues and would challenge what Ms. Wong-Tam is suggesting,” he said during a Sunday afternoon interview with CP24.
In a statement, Brown said after a two-year pandemic hiatus the CNE has been “vigilantly preparing for the return of the Fair to ensure that any potential labour disruption would not significantly impact our operations nor compromise the safety of our staff, vendors and patrons.”
“Each year the rides and food installations at the CNE are inspected by regulatory authorities prior to and during all 18-days of the Fair. TSSA management have taken proactive measures including travelling to other Fair sites to conduct inspections in advance of the equipment’s arrival at the CNE,” he noted, adding the CNE also “dedicates a significant amount of resources to deploy its own third-party safety consultants and certified engineers to ensure that all rides and installations at the event exceed safety standards.”
“We want to assure our patrons that the CNE is safe; irrespective of the ongoing labour dispute between TSSA and OPSEU,” he said.
Like Wong-Tam, Brown also hopes both sides will sit down soon and reach a contract agreement “so that the TSSA can return to full staff to facilitate its role in safeguarding the industry."
Despite the job action, TSSA said, “comprehensive plans are in place for us to deliver on our safety mandate during the strike.”
“Rest assured that any amusement device in operation with a valid TSSA authorization has had its required annual inspection,” the governing body said in a July 29 tweet.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.