City denies responsibility for injuries in response to Fort Gibraltar walkway collapse lawsuit

The City of Winnipeg is denying it's legally responsible for the injuries a boy suffered when an elevated walkway collapsed at a site it owns during a school field trip earlier this year.

Its statement of defence comes after the boy's parents alleged in a lawsuit filed in August that their son is "at risk of permanent disability" after falling roughly five metres and fracturing his hip and right wrist at Fort Gibraltar in Winnipeg's St. Boniface area.

The fall happened when a walkway at the replica wooden fort collapsed, sending 17 children and one adult to hospital.

The lawsuit accuses the city and the Festival du Voyageur  — which manages the city-owned site — of negligence, "failing to take reasonable or any precautions to avoid a reasonably foreseeable accident" and "failing to remediate a hazardous condition and thereby creating a highly dangerous trap."

The city's statement of defence was filed Nov. 22 in Manitoba's Court of King's Bench. It's the second to be filed in response to the lawsuit, after the Festival du Voyageur filed its own earlier this month, denying the accusations that it created a dangerous hazard or that it knew or should have known the walkway was unsafe. 

In its own court filing, the city made similar arguments and denied any city employees had been negligent.

It said while it has an agreement with Festival du Voyageur that includes maintaining and operating the replica fort, it denies it was "in physical possession of the land and structures on the property" or that it had control over its condition or activities or the people allowed to use it.

The statement of claim also denied the allegation that the walkway was last repaired in 2004 and last inspected in 2006 — though that's what a city spokesperson said previously.

Drone footage shows collapsed bridge at Fort Gibraltar in St. Boniface

2 years ago

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Seventeen children and one adult were taken to hospital with broken bones and other orthopedic injuries after falling four to five metres when a platform collapsed at Fort Gibraltar in Winnipeg during a visit by St. John's-Ravenscourt students on May 31, 2023.

The city also said it "has no knowledge of the extent of the injuries allegedly suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the incident, which are not admitted but expressly denied," and that any damage "was the result of the actions of other parties for whom the City of Winnipeg is not legally responsible."

The city argued the plaintiff "failed to act reasonably" to mitigate loss or damage, and that any damages or losses incurred were "wholly or partly the result of the plaintiff's own negligence, the particulars of which include failing to exercise reasonable care having regard to all of the circumstances."

It added that "to the extent the plaintiff has been or would have been entitled to benefits under a policy of insurance, the City of Winnipeg is released to the extent of all such benefits available to or otherwise recovered by the plaintiff."

The city is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit with costs.

Fort Gibraltar is a 1978 replica of two earlier forts of the same name. The original fort was used as a centre for fur trade commerce and early settlers in what's now Winnipeg. 

The site where the replica was built is now owned by the city and managed by Festival du Voyageur, which runs an annual winter event at the fort that celebrates the area's fur-trade history.

The walkway collapsed while a group of 10- and 11-year-old students from St. John's-Ravenscourt School were on a field trip to the site in May. 

After the walkway collapsed, the city said it directed the Festival du Voyageur to retain a professional engineer to assess the entire complex for any unsafe conditions and do any necessary repairs. The reason for the structure's collapse was not confirmed.

None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been tested in court.