Man killed on job site in northwest Calgary remembered as kind and compassionate
CBC
The man who died on the job in northwest Calgary on Thursday is being remembered as a compassionate, kind person who would do anything for the people he cared about.
On Thursday a 27-year-old man died after he was buried in a collapsed trench while doing sewer repairs in Charleswood. Crews worked for hours to be able to expose the trench.
He was identified Friday as Liam Johnston by his girlfriend Emily Gofton.
Gofton told CBC the two met at Mr. Mike's Plumbing, where she used to work. He had been working as an apprentice plumber.
"There's truly not one person that could walk this earth and say that they had a negative experience with him. He was the most compassionate, kind, generous, intellectual person that I've ever met in my entire life," Gofton said.
On Facebook, Gofton shared poetry Johnston had written to her, something she said wasn't uncommon.
"He knew exactly what to say to those that he loved and how to make them really feel that. If you had a chance to read that poem, it's almost like he wrote that for this exact moment," she said.
"He would do anything for the people he loves. He worked with those coworkers — for some of them for two to three years. Those are people that he loved, and he would do anything for their well-being."
Gofton said the two started dating in December, and that Johnston had moved to Calgary from Waterloo, Ont., with his best friend.
"This was the place that Liam loved. The only place that he loves more than Calgary would be his cottage back home," she said.
"Calgary was a place of opportunity for him. He loved the mountains. He loved being surrounded by the city."
Gofton said she wants to know why — and how — the incident happened.
She said Johnston texted her concerns about the job site throughout the day on Wednesday.
"The last message I have from him on Wednesday before he was coming home — we lived together — so before coming home to me he said, 'Tomorrow's going to be a rough day.' And I don't think he really knew how true that was," she said.
Canada is preparing for U.S. President Donald Trump to hit the country with potentially devastating tariffs on Tuesday, but the federal government and the premiers say they are in the dark about what will actually materialize and how high those promised levies will be.
Former P.E.I. Premier Dennis King has been appointed as Canada's new ambassador to Ireland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday in a news release.
Oxford and Elgin counties have the highest number of measles cases in the country, the province's public health agency says, as local medical officials warn of more possible exposures to the deadly virus.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford will take questions from media Monday for the first time since his Progressive Conservatives won their third-straight majority in a snap election last week.
Newfoundland and Labrador is staring down federal, provincial, and municipal elections in the next eight months, but for one new Canadian the opportunity to vote is something she's not taking for granted.
Even with a dirt trench running down the hallway, and exposed wires and pipes hanging from the ceiling, it still kind of looks like an elementary school.
Some of the most affordable rental housing in Nova Scotia is rapidly becoming less so, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data analyzed by CBC News.
A two-time federal Conservative candidate in Miramichi says he doesn't think current party MP Jake Stewart can win again in a federal election that is expected to start within weeks.
Quebec municipalities and human rights groups are voicing concerns about proposed legislation that would require newcomers to abide by a set of common values.
Amazon and Walmart Canada have so far ignored the NDP government's requests to restrict the online sale of machetes to Manitobans, the province says.
Saskatoon city council is seeking money to crack down on unlicensed short-term rentals in the city, like those on AirBnB and VRBO, amid an active moratorium on licensing certain new short-term rentals.
When Kwaku Ayisi lost a friend who hadn't even reached 40 to breast cancer, it inspired him to look at the barriers Black women face in Saskatchewan's breast-health system.
A northern Alberta town is losing its only family doctor clinic and officials are trying to find solutions before the doors close for good at the end of May.