RCMP apologizes for ‘grossly inadequate’ investigation into N.S. workplace drowning

HALIFAX – The agency that reviews complaints against the RCMP says the police force has apologized for its “grossly inadequate” investigation into the death of an engineer in Nova Scotia who drowned while inspecting a hydroelectric plant.

In a final report dated Oct. 14, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission says 26-year-old Andrew Gnazdowsky died on Oct. 16, 2020, after he entered a reservoir north of Sheet Harbour, N.S., to retrieve a malfunctioning remotely operated vehicle.

The province’s Labour Department later charged three businesses with violating the Nova Scotia Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Privately owned utility Nova Scotia Power was convicted and fined for failing to provide rescue equipment and safe work practices for working on the water, as were subcontractors Brunswick Engineering of Saint John, N.B, and Gemtec Consulting Engineering and Scientists Ltd. of Fredericton, the report says.

Gnazdowsky’s sister, Nicole, filed a complaint against the RCMP in January 2024 arguing the police force should have investigated all three businesses for Criminal Code violations, such as criminal negligence causing death.

But the RCMP dismissed her complaint on April 30, 2025, saying the actions of the two officers involved in the case were “reasonable and consistent” with the Criminal Code and RCMP policy.

“They came back to me and said, ‘No, we did everything completely right. There’s nothing to see here,” Nicole Gnazdowsky said in an interview Wednesday.

In July 2025, she asked the commission to review her complaint.

Earlier this year, the independent agency completed an interim report that found the two RCMP officers had completed an inadequate investigation, and that the police force in general did not understand its role in investigating workplace deaths.

“It just proved to be a wider systemic issue,” Gnazdowsky said.  “I feel slightly vindicated because I was definitely made out to be a crazy person for a very long time and was gaslit to believe that everything was fine when I knew that it wasn’t.”

The agency also found that the Mountie at the scene, Const. Ashton Barter, also failed to secure the area. As well, the commission said Barter’s supervisor, then Cpl. Kelly-Ann Plamondon, failed to properly oversee the investigation. 

The commission’s report says the constable released the scene to Nova Scotia Power while a provincial investigation was still pending, and the young engineer’s body had yet to be found. As well, the constable did not determine if any rescue equipment or safety protocols were in place.

The report says Barter failed to grasp the distinction between a workplace death and an accidental death. 

“Essentially, there was no initial investigation whatsoever into potential criminal liability in this death,” the report says.

As for Plamondon, who is now a sergeant, the commission said there was no evidence she had turned her mind to ensuring that any investigation was carried out by the RCMP.

“The commission finds that this file demonstrated a widespread lack of knowledge amongst a variety of RCMP members at different ranks, positions and seniorities,” the report says. “Overall, there was a lack of understanding by them in this matter of the RCMP’s role in investigating workplace deaths.”

At the time, the Mounties decided the incident was an accidental drowning that did not involve any criminal element.

The commission said that was the wrong conclusion.

“Constable Barter’s investigation was grossly inadequate and unreasonable,” the commission said.

The commission found Nicole Gnazdowsky’s complaint correctly asserted that under the Criminal Code, criminal liability can flow to corporations and corporate leadership involved in workplace injuries or deaths.

“It’s obviously very validating to finally have somebody, essentially, have my back,” Gnazdowsky said.

The commission’s report provided six recommendations to the RCMP, most of them calling for more training and updated policies.

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme filed a response saying he agreed the investigation was inadequate and that there was a lack of understanding about the RCMP’s role. He confirmed both of the officers involved will receive more training.

Duheme, however, said the RCMP would not be conducting a criminal investigation because a successful prosecution was unlikely.

“Crown counsel in Nova Scotia was consulted and advised of the high threshold for criminal culpability in these types of offences,” he said in a statement. 

“Evidence gathering will also be challenged due to the length of time since the tragedy and the corrective actions taken by the companies following the regulatory convictions.”

Gnazdowsky received a written apology on Wednesday, signed by the RCMP’s acting chief superintendent for the Halifax region, Don Moser.

“I am sorry for the distress and frustration you and your family experienced during an already devastating time,” Moser’s letter says. “The RCMP has committed to measures to address the issues identified in this matter.”

Gnazdowsky described her brother as the “best person in the entire world.”

“That is why I felt such an obligation to him,” she said. “What he would have said if he was here: ‘Fix this for everyone. Don’t just focus on me …. If anybody deserved better, it was him.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.