Walmart Canada Corp. and Alberta Health Services (AHS) presented an agreed statement of facts in Fort McMurray Provincial Court Monday morning in relation to the sale of food contaminated by 2016 wildfire.
District Loss Prevention Manager Darren Kenyon and Walmart Canada have each been charged $2,000 per offence, totalling $20,000 each.
Crown Prosecutor Ivan Bernardo said that he believed the fines would deter other operators from committing a similar offence.
In the statement Kenyon and Walmart Canada each faced 10 charges, which they pled guilty to, rather than the original 174.
In a statement Rob Nicol, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Walmart Canada said that the company didn’t adequately carry out the order from AHS.
“Food safety and the safety of our customers is our top priority. We have learned from this experience and will be better able to respond in future crises to support the community. As part of our commitment, Walmart has recently made a donation to the Red Cross to support ongoing disaster preparedness, relief and recovery operations.”
Walmart made a donation of $130,000 to the Fort McMurray Red Cross on Sept. 20, 2018.
After the wildfire AHS required food establishments to pass an inspection to ensure food being sold was safe for human consumption.
The first inspection took place on May 24, 2016, where AHS Executive Health Officer (EHO) Dave Fong directed Kenyon to dispose of all perishables and foods that appeared to be damaged from smoke.
The agreed statement of facts said that a follow-up inspection was requested on May 27, 2016 where a pair of EHOs told Kenyon that all foods not packaged in a can must be thrown out. The next day the store was approved to re-open.
That same day AHS received two complaints that the store was selling contaminated foods and another inspection was done where, according to the statement, Kenyon confirmed that all required foods had been destroyed.
A second inspection was done on the same day and an employee said some of the food was in fact in the store at the time of the fire. Kenyon confirmed and voluntarily closed the store around 3 p.m. on May 28, 2016. On May 29, the store was approved to re-open.
In the end, around 140,000 pieces of food were destroyed.
