No Supreme Court appeal in Chinese workers deaths case

The Supreme Court says it will not hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that says a Chinese state-owned corporation should face charges in the deaths of two oilsands workers in Alberta.

Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Co. was seeking to challenge an Alberta Court of Appeal judgment that ordered the company to stand trial on 53 health and safety charges.

Two temporary workers from China died in 2007 near Fort McMurray when a storage tank collapsed at Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.'s Horizon project.

Sinopec Shanghai, which brought the workers to Alberta, argued it has no official presence in Canada and therefore could not be charged.

Two other companies, Canadian Natural Resources and SSEC Canada a Sinopec subsidiary with just one employeeare to stand trial on the charges in October.

As is customary, the Supreme Court of Canada gave no reasons for its decision.