The owner of a Toronto construction company and two others charged in a deadly scaffolding collapse in Toronto last Christmas Eve have each been released on $10,000 bail.
Four migrant workers who were repairing concrete balconies at an apartment building died when they plummeted 13 storeys to the ground when their swing stage scaffolding broke.
A fifth suffered serious injuries but a sixth man, who had attached himself to a lifeline, was uninjured.
Joel Swartz, 51, of Toronto, owner of Metron Construction Corp., Vadim Kazenelson, 35, of Gormley, Ont., and Benny Saigh, 52, of Toronto, surrendered to police Wednesday morning.
The three men and Metron Construction Corp. each face four counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
The maximum penalty for criminal negligence causing death is life in prison.
The next court appearance in the case is Nov. 3.
The case is "precedent setting,'' said lead Toronto police Det. Kevin Sedore in an interview.
"I think it's also going to be a wake-up call for supervisors and persons who are directing work and details,'' said Sedore, who called the deaths a preventable tragedy.
A publication ban was imposed on evidence presented at the bail hearing. None of the allegations has been proven in court.
Metron, along with Swing N Scaff of Ottawa, had previously been charged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Following the construction deaths, inspectors from Ontario's Ministry of Labour conducted an enforcement blitz at hundreds of construction sites.
Ontario also launched a review into how to better protect workers after a string of deaths on construction sites across the province.
Stay tuned for more on this case as it evolves.
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