There doesn't have to be intent to be charged here. Just negligence.
Look at that mom who was charged for her baby's death in Seattle a year or two ago. She had a RF infant seat in front of an airbag and two FF children in the back...
-Nicole.
But the charge would be provincial, not federal. Not using a car seat in Canada isn't a federal/criminal matter, unfortunately. Unless it can be proven that these parents had intent to harm their child things sort of fall back towards it being a provincial matter. The liklihood of getting a manslaughter charge is slim, unfortunately. I'm not pretending to actually know these things btw, my comments are based off a conversation with dh. He can list mulitple cases of vehicular death (some involving children) where without intent (alcohol, dangerous driving, etc) there really isn't anywhere to go in terms of hardcore federal charges.
A charge of criminal negligence has to involve a criminal act. Not using a car seat (at all, or using it incorrectly) is not a criminal matter in Canada.
Okay, so then you go back to it being a provincial matter.
There is a small window that might apply that involves not providing the necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing) the charge known as endangering a life of a child / failing to provide the necessities of life, however not using a car seat is a big leap. Maybe though.
It's also a big leap from careless driving (provincial code) to dangerous driving (criminal/federal code). So even if EPS finds these parents to have been driving carelessly it's still only a provincial charge and the outcome would be handed down by a judge. It probably wouldn't involve jail time. But it could be something like a $2k fine with loss of license for a year. (or something to that affect)
Now, keep in mind the Journal has so far reported very little about this case, and often further details are never released to the media. It's all speculation at this point, though it's certainly significant that EPS has reported no obvious cause to this collision.
If there is an applicable charge EPS will lay it. If they have witnesses, or they get blood samples back, or if they can come up with anything at all, they will do their best. There might be a civil lawsuit (grandparents sue baby's parents sort of thing). But the chances of anything happening similar to what we see in the US? Probably not.
Dh says that if he's wrong he'll be happy to be wrong, but he's pretty sure EPS will be stuck between a rock and hard place on this one, barring intent... which may surface but hasn't been reported and may never be. Again, if they are charged I'd like to know with what. And I'd like to know the outcome (often much different than the actual charge).
Again, a really sad case. Poor little baby. And this poor family. No one can win here.