News in Review – September 2012 – Teacher Resource Guide Mall Collapse: A Preventable Tragedy?

SETTING THE STAGE

Two people were killed and 22 other people were Note to Teachers injured when the roof of the Algo Centre Mall in The classroom must promote a safe place Elliot Lake collapsed on June 23, 2012. The speed for students to discuss sensitive issues such and efficiency of emergency response to the as disaster and death. Prepare students for collapse has been criticized, and the mall's safety the topics that will be discussed and allow and structural integrity will be questioned in a for individual reflective time in addition to public inquiry. small group activities where students can safely process their thoughts and emotions.

MINDS ON DISCUSSION

1. Imagine that you just received a text message from your friend saying that a nearby mall/community centre had collapsed. How would you respond?

2. Have you ever been concerned about the structural safety of a building? To whom would you report your concerns?

3. Do you think that the government should be responsible for creating laws regarding the safety of buildings? Why or why not?

4. What problems do you anticipate a rescue crew may have in attempting to find survivors and bodies in a collapsed building?

5. Hypothesize probable causes of the roof collapse of a mall.

6. Locate Elliot Lake on a map of Canada. Determine three distinguishing attributes of this community

28

SEPTEMBER 2012 — ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE: A PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY?

FOCUS FOR READING

As you read the background information below on the Algo Centre Mall collapse, record your answers to the following questions:

1. Who was involved in the rescue attempt and what technologies were used?

2. Why did some community members respond in anger when the official rescue team called off the search?

3. How did Premier McGuinty get involved in the events?

4. What three legal actions resulted from this tragedy?

A Community in Shock determine if there were survivors. A Heavy Life in the community of Elliot Lake in northern Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) team from came to a shocked standstill on a Toronto was sent on a seven-hour trek to the Saturday afternoon when news that part of the community since at least one person was known mall's roof, which also served as a parking lot, to be trapped in the rubble. came crashing through two floors. The number Workers at the mall said that they heard a big of people who were in the mall at the time of the noise and felt the ground started shaking collapse was difficult to calculate since both immediately before the collapse and one witness shoppers and employees had to be accounted for. saw a few cars fall through the roof near the Friends, family and community members rushed centre's escalators. Many workers ran to a back to the scene to gather news and to witness a entrance to escape. Rescue crews announced on tangle of twisted metal and . The local Sunday that it would take up to 12 hours to fire department and paramedics were the first stabilize the building in order to proceed with a teams to arrive to begin rescue operations. The rescue. A person buried in the rubble responded OPP initially determined that 22 people were to shouts of rescuers by tapping at first, but injured but none of those were seriously hurt. A stopped after a few responses. A rescue dog canine team and thermal sensors were used to

News in Review ∙ CBC Learning ∙ newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 29

SEPTEMBER 2012 — ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE: A PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY? verified that a live person was underneath the own. It had been determined that Lucie Aylwin, rubble. Nine people remained unaccounted for. 37, an employee of a lottery kiosk in the mall, was trapped in the rubble and likely had been the A Disaster in Waiting person making the tapping noises heard days Despite the communities shock at the tragedy, earlier. Her fiancé, Gary Gendron, was many people did not seem surprised at the distraught, announcing to supporters and disaster. The mall's roof had leaked for years. reporters gathered, that officials had wrongfully Customers and employees shared stories of giving up looking for her. buckets and tarps being used to collect rain Two hours later, the search was resumed. water that routinely fell through the ceilings. Premier Dalton McGuinty had intervened to One structural engineer who was asked to work urge officials to continue the effort. On on the design of the Algo Centre Mall back in Tuesday night a giant Priestly Crane was 1979 was recently quoted in the as brought in from Toronto to rip through the saying it was a "stupid" idea to put the parking exterior wall and grab the escalator that rescuers lot on the roof since parked cars could introduce had feared would fall on them. By Wednesday moisture and road salt to the proposed morning the HUSAR team was back inside the unprotected steel-and concrete design that did building to find two victims. The week-long not included waterproofing. rescue effort ended when the bodies of Lucie Aylwin, who had managed to survive for so Rescue Mission Starts and Stalls long, and Doloris Perizzolo, 74 were recovered. After a 48-hour around-the-clock search, Bill Aylwin had taken on the part-time job to save Neadles, the commander of the HUSAR unit, money for her up-coming wedding. Perizzolo, a announced early Monday that the building was mother of two daughters, reportedly worked at a too structurally unsound to continue rescue hospital until she retired, and her husband died efforts. Residents gathered in front of the Algo last year. She had been purchasing a lottery Centre Mall listened in silence and sobbed as ticket from Lucie when the collapse happened. Neadles stated that the case was being referred to the Ministry of Labour who would likely Residents are seeking answers to why the order a demolition of the building remains along tragedy occurred and why the rescue mission with careful extraction of the deceased. Many seemed disorganized and that the heavy residents reacted with anger, and claimed that equipment required was not brought in sooner. they had the expertise from working in uranium Three legal actions are pending. A public inquiry mines to begin their own rescue attempt. A was launched on July 20th, a criminal heavy police presence deterred their efforts to investigation by the OPP and a $30 million class storm the site and continue the search on their action lawsuit.

Did you Know? The 200,000 square-foot, two-level mall was a major community centre and employer in the town. It included a hotel and grocery store.

News in Review ∙ CBC Learning ∙ newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 30

SEPTEMBER 2012 — ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE: A PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY?

LEARNING ACTIVITY: Class Discussion

Consider the following questions individually and then debrief in small groups. Be prepared to join in a class discussion.

1. Do you think professional rescue teams must risk their lives, regardless of circumstances, to save victims who are alive? Why or why not?

2. Do you think professional rescue teams should risk their lives to retrieve bodies? Why or why not?

3. When, if ever, do you think it is appropriate to "call off" a rescue mission?

4. Consider the impact on a small community if their only mall/community centre was destroyed? List the possible economic and social impacts.

News in Review ∙ CBC Learning ∙ newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 31

SEPTEMBER 2012 — ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE: A PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY?

VIDEO REVIEW

Pre-viewing Questions

1. If you were a CBC reporter, who would you want to interview to gain information on this event? Why?

2. For each person you interviewed, what two important questions would you ask?

Viewing Questions

As you watch the CBC News in Review video, record answers to the following questions:

1. At the public meeting, why were people in the town angry at town officials?

2. What did one former worker claim was the problem with the mall's structure?

3. How is the proposed cause of the roof collapse similar to issues in Toronto's Gardiner Expressway?

4. How did rescuers know that someone was alive in the ruins?

5. What technology was used in the rescue operation?

News in Review ∙ CBC Learning ∙ newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 32

SEPTEMBER 2012 — ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE: A PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY?

6. Why was the rescue mission called off?

7. What was the outcome of the rescue?

8. What support did Premier McGuinty offer the community?

9. Why did the OPP launch a criminal investigation?

10. What additional legal action was taken by the victim's families?

Post-Viewing Questions

1. Return to your answers to the pre-viewing questions. Did the news reporters interview the people you had predicted? Discuss possible reasons for the omissions and additions to your list.

2. Did the report poise the questions that you deemed important? What additional questions remain for a future investigation?

News in Review ∙ CBC Learning ∙ newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 33

SEPTEMBER 2012 — ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE: A PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY?

LEARNING ACTIVITY: Public Inquiries in Canada

Minds-on Activity

Consider this sample of both federal and provincial public inquiries in Canadian history: Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1991; Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, 2000; Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada, 1995; The Ipperwash Inquiry (Ontario, 2003); Access to Health Services (Alberta, 2012); Missing Women Commission of Inquiry (British Columbia, 2010).

1. From this list of previous Canadian public inquiries, what do you infer is the purpose of a public inquiry?

2. Why do you think a public inquiry was announced by the Ontario government regarding the Elliot Lake mall collapse?

What Public Inquiries Do evidence. Inquiries treat false answers by You may have heard of public inquiries before witnesses as perjury and can make findings of in political news reports. The federal misconduct. Witnesses can be represented by a government and provincial governments may lawyer. call a public inquiry for a number of importance There are two major types of public inquiries; reasons and purposes. A public inquiry can policy reviews and factual inquiries. Policy examine a complex social issue or a specific reviews review major complex social, economic tragic event in order to determine government and political issues and provide advice to the wrongdoing and to make recommendations for government. A factual inquiry involves a changes to federal and provincial laws. The specific event that has raised widespread public federal or provincial governments are not bound concern. The factual inquiry's purpose is to to accept recommendations. Public inquiries determine what happened and why. An inquiry allow the media and the general public to attend also provides recommendations to the its proceedings and to provide evidence and government on how similar events can be testimony. Final reports are public record (you prevented in the future. can read them on-line). Supporters of public inquiries believe that Public inquiries are not courts of law. A public inquiries provide valuable information for public inquiry does not make a legal finding of guilt or awareness and debate in addition to providing liability and no one is legally obliged to follow important policy recommendations to the its recommendations. However, if an inquiry government that may led to social and political were to uncover evidence criminal activities, this reform. However, there are critics of public evidence would be turned over to the appropriate inquiries who state that they are too expensive agency for further investigation and possibly and time consuming and that the government is criminal charges. Even though public inquiries too closely involved with the proceedings to are not courts of law, they can compel witnesses make the proceedings and final to appear, testify under oath and produce recommendations truly independent.

News in Review ∙ CBC Learning ∙ newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 34

SEPTEMBER 2012 — ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE: A PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY?

Consolidate Your Learning

1. The Algo Centre Mall roof collapse public inquiry will be which type-policy review or factual inquiry?

2. Why do you think Premier Dalton McGuinty has created a public inquiry into this tragedy?

3. Who do you think will be called to testify at this inquiry and why?

4. What recommendations can you predict might be made by the inquiry?

5. What are the arguments in favour of and against public inquiries?

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

1. What other political, social, economic issue do you think your provincial government should commence a new public inquiry? Why?

2. Invite a structural engineer to talk to your class about some of the key elements that make a structural design safe.

3. Invite your school caretaker to talk to your class about safety procedures and laws that make your school building healthy and safe.

4. Write a letter or email of condolence and support to the people of Elliot Lake.

News in Review ∙ CBC Learning ∙ newsinreview.cbclearning.ca 35