Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner will hold an inquest into the deaths of three people killed in the 2019 OC Transpo bus crash at Westboro station in Ottawa.
Anja Van Beek, 65, Judy Booth, 57, and Bruce Thomlinson, 56, were killed when an OC Transpo bus crashed into a shelter overhang on Jan. 11, 2019. Nearly two dozen other passengers were injured in the incident.
Police later charged the bus driver with three counts of dangerous driving causing death and 35 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, but she was acquitted of all criminal charges in 2021.
The court’s decision noted misleading road markings, the setting sun and a snow-filled gutter as factors in the crash.
City paid millions in settlements
As of January 2024, the City of Ottawa had paid out more than $23.5 million to settle civil claims including those brought by the families of Booth, Thomlinson and Van Beek.
All three victims were federal public servants. Thomlinson worked for the Canada Border Services Agency and Van Beek worked for the Treasury Board. While Booth was retired, she still assisted in an access to information and privacy office where she’d been working prior to the collision.
“A discretionary inquest has been called to examine the circumstances into their deaths. The jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing further deaths,” said a news release issued Monday by the Ministry of the Solicitor General.
Dates for the inquest have not yet been announced.