Maple Ridge father seeks stronger protections for unhoused people after daughter’s death

A Maple Ridge man who lost his daughter in an accident involving heavy machinery says he wants to prevent another family from experiencing the same loss. Stacey Reid was run over and killed by a boom lift at a commercial property in Mission just days after her 21st birthday. Her father, Marc White, launched a petition on Oct. 14 calling for stronger protections for unhoused people around heavy machinery.

“Safety was completely thrown out of the window … There’s no way this isn’t negligence by absolutely any means,” White said. He said he started the petition because unhoused people are everywhere. Canada is extremely expensive, he said, and while some people are unhoused by choice rather than because they cannot afford housing, construction workers operating heavy machinery must remain mindful of them.

Reid ended up on the street shortly before her 16th birthday, and drug use soon became an issue. For the past three years, she had stayed in both Mission and Abbotsford. Her parents fought to get her help and remained in contact with her over the years. White was first told of her death on Sept. 29. He said the family initially assumed that, given her lifestyle, she might have died of an overdose.

White said he received a call the next day from the constable who was at the scene. According to White, the officer called it a “freak accident,” and White was angered by the officer’s demeanour. White said he believes his daughter’s death was negligence, not a freak accident. He said the boom lift operator had a spotter, yet someone still died. In the petition, he wrote that the tragedy points to a significant gap in safety protocols for heavy machinery operating in areas where vulnerable people live.

White said that if family had not been involved in Reid’s life, her death would not have become news. “It seems to be that the police just don’t care. We don’t know how often this kind of thing happens because it doesn’t get publicized. And that’s part of the problem,” he said. Mission RCMP said it reviewed the circumstances with specialized investigative units. Investigators concluded that the circumstances did not meet the threshold to recommend criminal charges.

The BC Coroners Service is overseeing the investigation and said it cannot provide further details while it remains open and active. White said Reid was on a public right of way, not private property, when she died. The family has made several trips to the scene and received photos from community members showing the aftermath. White said Reid was wrapped in a bright red sleeping bag, with a blanket spread out like a bed and a piece of cardboard protruding underneath.

White said there was no excuse for the incident and that the worksite should have had pylons, fences and other safeguards. He said he works in construction and with machinery, and that hazard assessments, safety checks and walkarounds are expected. Operators should not work arbitrarily, he said, and pylons should at least have been posted; he said many other measures could have been taken.

WorkSafeBC said its mandate includes examining the circumstances of the incident and the work activities involved. It has launched an investigation separate from any reviews or investigations by the employer, police or other authorities, each of which has its own responsibilities and mandate. The investigation is intended to independently determine the cause and contributing factors, including relevant occupational health and safety considerations, to help prevent future workplace incidents in the province. WorkSafeBC said it cannot comment on specific evidence, findings or potential enforcement outcomes while the investigation is underway.

The petition argues that current laws governing heavy machinery operations are not stringent enough, particularly in areas frequented by unhoused people. Its proposed “Stacey’s Law” would require operators to visually clear their path and physically verify that blankets, sleeping bags or piles of debris are unoccupied before starting or continuing operations. It would also prohibit driving over or crushing any setup, structure or accumulated material that could serve as, or conceal, a temporary shelter without first verifying that no person is present.

Under the proposed law, failing to carry out the checks or yield to a person would automatically constitute grounds for criminal negligence and strict regulatory liability for operators, spotters, supervisors and corporations. The petition says governments have a responsibility to protect all citizens regardless of economic status, and argues that establishing and enforcing the law would promote accountability and help prevent further preventable tragedies. It urges people to call for justice for Stacey and others who deserve protection and respect. As of Tuesday, Oct. 20, the petition had more than 900 signatures.

White described his daughter as bright and vibrant. Reid was born with an intellectual disability, and her father said she faced challenges she could not always understand. He said the family had got her into treatment and she came out healthy and well, but went straight back to the streets. They had tried to get police and the courts to act because she had committed crimes, White said. He said people who commit those crimes would generally go to jail, but because of her social issue she was sentenced to probation without conditions, which he said did not provide anything that helped her.