> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.borealian.ca/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Canadians seek an investigation in the wake of CFB Wainwright deaths - URL: https://www.borealian.ca/cfb-wainwright-investigation-timelines/ - Published: 2026-10-19T20:13:03.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T20:13:03.000Z - Description: Four soldiers died and 39 were injured in a fire during live-fire training at CFB Wainwright on Oct. 17. Ottawa and the Canadian Armed Forces should say how and when the public will learn what happened. - Author: Grant - Tags: Politics, Defence Four Canadian Armed Forces members were killed and 39 injured when a fire overtook a training area at CFB Wainwright, Alta., at about 4 p.m. MDT on Oct. 17, according to the[ Department of National Defence](https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2026/10/four-canadian-armed-forces-members-killed-during-training-in-cfb-wainwright.html?ref=borealian.ca). The cause is under investigation. What Ottawa and the Forces owe the public now is a commitment on how those investigations will be reported, and on what timetable. ## What is known Members of 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, were on Exercise APOLLO SHOOTER when a fire ignited and spread until it overtook the unit administrative area, the department said. The department named those killed as Sergeant Morgan Wong, from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment based at Edmonton, Alberta, serving with 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry; Private Shaun Farrell, from 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based at Edmonton; Private Aidan Goulding, from 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based at Edmonton, Alberta; and Private Hayden Lykkemark, from 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based at Edmonton, Alberta. Acute Care Alberta said 19 patients were in critical condition as of Oct. 18, [The Globe and Mail](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-cfb-wainwright-fire-military-base-david-mcguinty-october-18/?ref=borealian.ca) reported. Maj.-Gen. Wade Rutland, commander of 1st Canadian Division, briefed reporters in Edmonton on Oct. 18 and said the cause was unknown, the Globe reported. The department said there was no indication of terrorist activity. ## Who is investigating A fire marshal team will determine the cause, and the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service and the RCMP are also investigating, the [Globe reported](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-cfb-wainwright-fire-how-will-army-investigate-board-of-inquiry/?ref=borealian.ca). The army is likely to add a board of inquiry, a military administrative investigation that can take sworn testimony and make recommendations, and whose hearings and report are not automatically public, according to military lawyers the paper interviewed. Rutland said he expects the full investigation to take at least a month, [CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/wainwright-fire-sunday-update-9.7386242?ref=borealian.ca) reported. On a board of inquiry, he told the Globe, “With this amount of casualties and complexities, it’s not going to take a day or a week,” and he declined to say whether its findings would be made public. ## The record on boards of inquiry Lawyers who have represented families describe a long wait. Michel Drapeau, a University of Ottawa law professor and retired colonel, told the Globe that families he represented waited five or six years for board of inquiry reports, which were often abridged or redacted. Gordon Scott Campbell, a military lawyer, said the board of inquiry report on the 2004 fire aboard the submarine HMCS Chicoutimi was made public only after intense political pressure. ## What the government has said Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke from Ottawa on Oct. 18 and called the fire “one of the worst tragedies for the Forces on Canadian soil in peacetime.” “We will be there for their families for as long as they need. We will care for the injured through every step of their recovery,” he said, according to the [Prime Minister’s Office](https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2026/10/18/prime-minister-carney-delivers-remarks-following-tragedy-cfb-wainwright?ref=borealian.ca). His remarks also commended “the close collaboration between all levels of government” and noted his regular contact with Premier Danielle Smith. One reason for that emphasis may be timing, since the fire came two days before Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum, in which he had campaigned for a remain vote. His remarks did not address whether the investigations’ findings would be published, and Defence Minister David McGuinty’s public statements through Oct. 19 have not addressed it either. Some may argue that talk of timelines can wait until the injured are cared for and the investigators have done their first work. Drapeau answered that view in the Globe: “We the public have an interest to find out what happened and hopefully to find out also what measures may be taken to prevent recurrence.” A published timetable takes nothing from the care promised, and it costs the investigators no independence. ## What Ottawa should commit to Carney told the House on Oct. 19 that 50 investigators, led by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service and supported by the RCMP, were at Wainwright and that the cause was still unknown, the [Globe](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-cfb-wainwright-fire-investigation-october-19/?ref=borealian.ca) and [CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/livestory/cfb-wainwright-fire-deaths-carney-9.7386478?ref=borealian.ca) reported. He told CBC News that answers would come “as expeditiously and transparently as necessary,” but he set no date and made no commitment to publish any report. CBC reported that he stressed “transparently,” which likely reflects an awareness that the military is investigating itself, a point he was asked about directly. Minister McGuinty should commit to an initial report upon the conclusion of the initial investigation (about 1 month), the shortest time Rutland has given for the investigation. By then, he should publish the board of inquiry’s terms of reference, commit to releasing its report with only the redactions the law requires, and set a date for an interim public update from the fire marshal, the investigation service, and the RCMP on where each probe stands.