The company of deceased worker Christopher Best says he was taking photographs of a polar bear at a remote worksite in Nunavut when he was attacked and killed by a pair of bears last year.
Best, 34, was working at a radar site on Brevoort Island, Nunavut, when he was killed Aug. 8 of last year after being attacked by two polar bears. His death followed seven decades with no known injuries or deaths from bears, according to a report issued by his employer Nasittuq Corporation, which runs North Warning System radar sites from the east of Labrador to the Yukon.
However, the report does note that a polar bear had been killed at the same site on Brevoort Island off the eastern coast of Baffin Island in 2023 after it had tried repeatedly to get inside buildings.
Best’s mother Shelly Cox said her son had told his stepfather that despite being advised of bears in the area he believed they were not close. He went outside Aug. 8 to take photos of a polar bear when a second bear intercepted and charged him before being joined by the first bear.
Cox said she believes fences should have been put in place as well as motion sensors connected to an alarm system in order to strengthen the safety of radar sites such as the one her son was working at.
Best had worked previously in a number of jobs at North Warning System radar sites, including as a custodial employee and general labourer. Best had been offered a position by Nasittuq in logistics and was awaiting security clearance before beginning the job, cleaning fuel tanks in the interim.
The day before the fatal attack, Best arrived at the site with a tank cleaning crew, at which point the report says they saw a bear and photographed it, with Best posting the photo online. The attack on Aug. 8 was witnessed by another worker inside a building who ran to tell a wildlife monitor employee stationed at the site.
The report says that the wildlife monitor then shot a non-lethal bear-banger round from a 12-guage shotgun to scare off the bears, but when one of the bears turned around to charge once again, the monitor switched to lethal rounds and killed it. A second employee arrived with a weapon and kept watch as Best’s body was loaded onto a truck and taken into the building.
Although Best had taken polar bear awareness training, records show he had not completed all the course materials at the time of the deadly attack, according to the report.
Nasittuq’s report advises several changes to improve safety at its sites, including the recommendation that any employee who wishes to leave the building after work hours must first get permission from a supervisor. It also advises that public address systems be set up to issue warnings when there have been bear sightings, along with recommending that fencing be installed at some sites.
Employment and Social Development Canada says it is still compiling its report on Best’s death, noting in an email that Canada’s Labour Code requires federally regulated employers to protect the physical well-being of their employees or potentially face financial penalties.
