MPI sues dairy producer

Manitoba Public Insurance is suing a dairy producer, alleging it’s liable for damages in a collision that damaged five motorcycles and caused the death of a Winnipeg man.

The lawsuit, filed by MPI’s lawyers in Court of King’s Bench April 19, names Steinbach producer Pennwood Dairy Inc., its owner and a John Doe as defendants.

The public insurer’s civil filing is seeking $34,946 in towing and repair costs to five motorcycles it insured that were damaged in the Sept. 24, 2022 collision.

Pennwood and the named defendants have not yet filed statements of defence. The dairy producer could not be reached for comment Monday.

MPI’s lawsuit alleges that as the owners of the motorcycles travelled on Provincial Road 311, between roads 36E and 37E at about 1 p.m., they encountered heavy, slick mud, lost control and were thrown from their vehicles.

Pennwood owns the adjacent farmland, northeast of Steinbach, and MPI alleges the owner or an employee left the mud by driving farm machinery on the highway.

Denis L’Heureux, who was in the lead of the group of motorcyclists, was thrown from his bike into the opposite lane, where he was struck by an oncoming pickup truck. It was his 45th birthday and his then-12-year-old daughter was his passenger. He was pronounced dead at the scene, RCMP said at the time.

The lawsuit makes no mention of L’Heureux’s death, but RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Julie Courchaine confirmed Monday that police did not investigate any other motorcycle collisions on that stretch of road that day.

The lawsuit accuses the dairy’s owner and employee of breaching their duty of care to the motorcyclists. The dairy is vicariously liable of negligently and recklessly causing the collision, MPI alleges.

The dairy failed to ensure its machinery used the roadway to generally accepted standards, failed to exercise care, failed to post signage warning of the muddy hazard, failed to have the roadway closed when it was foreseeable that it couldn’t be travelled on without causing injury or damage and failed to take steps to clear the mud, MPI alleges in the lawsuit.

RCMP investigated the collision and determined it was caused by mud left on the road by farm equipment.

However, L’Heureux’s widow, Lise Léveillé, was informed by Crown prosecutors and RCMP last June that justice officials were not pursuing criminal charges due to a lack of evidence surrounding who was responsible for the debris on the road, she told the Free Press at the time.

Justice officials told Léveillé, who was among the five riders who lost control, that the road is used by multiple farm operators, making it more difficult to prove who was responsible for the mud on the road that day.

The standard of proof in civil court cases is lower than in criminal court proceedings.

Civil cases are determined based on a balance of probabilities. A plaintiff must show their claim is more likely than not true.

In criminal cases, Crown prosecutors must prove to a judge or jury that the accused person is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Following L’Heureux’s death, Léveillé and the Coalition of Manitoba Motorcycle Groups called for the provincial government to require people to post warning signs when mud or debris they are responsible for poses a danger to road users, and for more effective enforcement and significant fines for people who fail to clear debris in a timely manner.

Under the Highway Traffic Act, it is illegal to deposit or not remove anything, such as mud, that could cause injury.

A conviction can carry a fine of up to $2,000. Offences resulting in death can result in a jail sentence of up to two years.

Court records show the owner of Pennwood Dairy has no recent charges, including Highway Traffic Act offences.

The province said last year its Transportation and Infrastructure Department was working with organizations, including MPI and the motorcycle coalition, to set up a committee to study the matter and recommend new measures.

Doug Houghton of the Coalition of Manitoba Motorcycle Groups said the committee has been formed, made up of the Transportation and Infrastructure Department, MPI, agricultural groups and law enforcement, as well as the coalition. It sits for its first meeting on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the Crown corporation said last year that it ran advertisements encouraging farm equipment operators to avoid leaving debris on roads and joined a farm-safety advisory council, which has discussed the issue of road debris.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca