Video: Former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty testifies at the Elliot Lake inquiry. Jennifer Tryon reports.
TORONTO – Former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty said the mall that collapsed last year in Elliot Lake was “like a house of cards.”
Testifying at a judicial inquiry on Wednesday, the former Ontario premier said although the building could have collapsed at any moment, rescuers had to at least try to reach victims buried in the rubble.
The Algo Centre Mall collapsed on June 23, 2012. Residents were stunned when the search was called off just two days later. McGuinty said at the inquiry he was “shocked” the rescue efforts were halted even though someone might have been alive in the debris.
After a late-evening call with McGuinty, the search resumed. However, the effort came too late for two women who were trapped inside the mall.
Lucie Aylwin, 37, and Doloris Perizzolo, 74, died in the rubble. Their bodies were recovered four days after the collapse.
READ MORE: A look at the inquiry into the Elliot Lake mall collapse
McGuinty said Wednesday he thought calling off the search was unacceptable, adding that if he hadn’t intervened, the rescue effort would have been over.
“My concern was to do nothing would be for death to ensue,” he testified.
“We had to try to do something.”
Previous witnesses have said McGuinty simply wanted to ensure everything was being done to try to save the victims.
Click here for extensive coverage of the Elliot Lake mall collapse
Last month, the head of the disaster team that responded to the mall collapse admitted to calling off the search for survivors without looking for other options.
Toronto police Staff Insp. Bill Neadles said he made the call for fear the rescue operation had become too dangerous.
The decision was made just hours after signs of life were detected inside the mall. Neadles said he was told by the head of rescue operations that the further collapse of the mall was imminent.
“The recommendation to me was that we remove all of the workers from the building,” Neadles said.
At the inquiry, McGuinty said they owed it to the victims and the community to come up with a plan B.
Failing that, he said he challenged rescuers to come up with a plan C, D, E or F.
After seven months of testimony, McGuinty is the final witness at the hearings. He said he is confident that the inquiry will produce “excellent results” and conclusions about what exactly happened on June 23, 2013.
Inquiry commissioner Paul Bélanger will now take all of the evidence gathered and come up with a list of recommendations. It will be up to Ontario’s current premier, Kathleen Wynne, to see whether or not the inquiry recommendations go anywhere.
Watch the video below: McGuinty speaks following testimony at Elliot Lake inquiry
Global National’s Jennifer Tryon was at the inquiry. You can follow her tweets below:
*With files from The Canadian Press
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