May 6, 2014 – A general contractor and a licensed electrical contractor have both been convicted and fined for illegal electrical work done in several Ontario schools in the Ottawa, Kingston and Pembroke areas.

On April 3, 2014, Ontario’s Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) says Mario Giroux—owner of Construction G operating in the Ottawa area—pleaded guilty to 13 counts of performing electrical work without an electrical contractor’s licence, eight counts of failing to apply for inspection and one count of leaving an unsafe condition. Meantime, on April 24, Nick Medewar of NM Electric was convicted in an Ottawa court of six counts of illegally taking out electrical permits on behalf of an unlicensed contractor working for Construction G.

According to ESA, Construction G hired a worker who performed electrical work on its behalf but did not ensure this worker held the required electrical contractor licence. The worker subsequently arranged to have electrical permits taken out illegally by Medewar—who is a licensed electrical contractor (LEC)—for work at several schools of the Conseil Des Ecoles Catholiques du Centre-Est, and at least one residential site. That worker has been charged with doing electrical work without a licence, and this case is before the courts.

“This is an issue where multiple illegal actions put public safety—specifically children—at risk,” said Normand Breton, ESA’s general manager, harm mitigation, who oversees ESA’s electrical contractor licensing system. “Through the course of our investigation, we discovered significant electrical hazards at one school that could have seriously injured or killed someone, or caused a fire.”

The court imposed a fine of $58,750 for Giroux’s violations and Medewar was fined $7500. Both fines include a 25% victim fine surcharge, which is credited to a provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.