Robin MacLennan
Ontario Construction Report staff writer
Prosecutors have withdrawn all charges against Condrain in connection to a deadly crash on McKay Road in Barrie that killed six young people in August 2022.
During a case management hearing in Barrie court Sept. 27, the Crown said there was new evidence and the charges “could not be proven within a reasonable doubt”.
The Concord-based construction company was charged with six counts of criminal negligence causing death after six young people were killed Aug. 27, 2022 when the vehicle they were in plunged into a construction hole in the middle of the closed road. According to media reports, the car fell into a tunnel access shaft and caught fire.
Court documents had alleged the company failed to “properly sign and barricade the temporary road closure of McKay Road between County Road 27 and Veterans Drive as per the traffic management plan and contract with Erritt Construction Ltd.”
Investigators soon determined the deadly wreck happened shortly after 6 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. Police have said they believe the group was travelling to the nearby Gateway Casinos Innisfil (Georgian Downs), not far from the crash site and just outside the city limits.
Family and friends identified those killed in the crash as Curtis King, 22; River Wells, 23; Jason Ono-O’Connor, 22; Luke West, 22; Jersey Mitchell, 20; and Haley Marin, 21.