ANTIGONISH: A 45-year-old Lakevale, Antigonish County man has entered not guilty pleas for his alleged involvement in a fatal two-car collision in Porter’s Lake along Highway 107 on January 17, 2018.
Chet Bernard Chisholm had been charged with criminal negligence causing death, two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, and breach of trust.
Cpl. Jennifer Clarke, a public information officer for the RCMP, said these are unusual charges because Chisholm wasn’t behind the wheel of a vehicle but rather completed the motor vehicle inspection on one of them.
Chisholm, the man accused of improperly completing the safety inspection on one of the vehicles involved, was working as a bus inspector and compliance officer with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal’s enforcement division based in Antigonish at the time of the collision.
A 49-year-old woman who was driving a small vehicle inspected by Chisholm was killed and two other people were injured.
During the course of the police’s investigation, they determined the safety inspection on the woman’s vehicle had been improperly completed. RCMP were also able to determine that Chisholm – who inspected the vehicle – was the subject of another incident in January 2018 where an improper vehicle inspection had been completed.
Chisholm pleaded not guilty during an election-and-plea hearing in Antigonish Provincial Court on May 22 and is scheduled to stand trial on December 9.