Verdict expected today for Toronto teacher charged in teen student's drowning in Algonquin Park

An Ontario judge is expected to deliver a verdict today in the trial of a Toronto teacher accused in the drowning of a 15-year-old student during a school canoe trip.

Nicholas Mills oversaw the July 2017 trip to Algonquin Provincial Park during which Jeremiah Perry drowned.

Mills, a teacher at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, has pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death.

Prosecutors have alleged Mills ignored safety rules in planning and carrying out the multi-day excursion, and allowed Perry -- who they argued could not swim -- to go in the water without a life-jacket.

Defence lawyers, meanwhile, have said the Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Perry couldn't swim, which they said is necessary to establish negligence.