Judge calls for changes after boy drowned in Edmonton pool without supervision
Posted Oct 20, 2016 12:18 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An Edmonton judge says more changes are needed to protect children in swimming pools following the death of a seven-year-old boy.
A fatality inquiry report says there have been several improvements based on earlier investigations into the drowning at O’Leary Leisure Centre in July 2012.
But provincial court Judge Renee Cochard has made six further recommendations, including one that children under eight wear brightly coloured wristbands in city pools, as well as life-jackets until they can pass a swim test.
The judge also wants the province to fund a swimming survival program for Grade 4 students and to require all foster and group homes to have swimming policies.
The boy, who was in government care and living in a group home, had gone to the pool with a staff member and two other children.
The pool required an adult to be within reach of the boy but his worker was preoccupied with a younger child and wasn’t close by.
