Reach across the miles
People around the country sought to help after Westray disaster
Jim Webber-Cook was serving as a minister for the United Church in the small community of Esterhazy, Sask., when word reached him of an explosion back home in the Westray Mine.
“While you here felt the devastation of that explosion of that day 25 years ago; as you here felt the fear and the anxiety which enveloped this county and then the heartache and grief of loss which gripped you in the days which followed, I remember how those feelings were experienced in other places,” he told those gathered for a morning service at Their Light Shall Always Shine Park in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Westray Mine disaster that claimed 26 lives.
“The impact of this disaster affected not only the families of the miners lost that day and the people of this county, but people in communities across our country and beyond.”
On May 9, the families who worked in the potash mines of Esterhazy were praying for the coal mining families of Pictou County.
“In 1992, the people of our prairie town were glued to the television and radio for the updated reports. It was as though a pall had settled over our community so far away.”
Knowing that Webber-Cook and his wife were from the area, the people of Esterhazy approached him wondering what they could do to help. The result was a trust fund at the local credit union.
“People there just wanted to do something, anything to help, so they gave donations as a way of expressing their care and support and reaching out across the miles of this country. Those miles were bridged by being part of a caring community,” he said. “The response was tremendous.”
Webber-Cook doesn’t remember the amount raised, but he remembers the compassion.
“We remember today that the darkness of that day and those days was great, but thank God there were glimmers of light that shone in the coming together of people to express their care, their hope, their sympathy.”
Stephen Hunt, District 3 director of the United Steelworkers, also spoke. He had testified at the Westray Inquiry.
While there were charges of manslaughter and criminal negligence following the disaster, he said there was no justice as they never resulted in any convictions.
Despite that, he praised the families’ determination and that of others who continue to fight for protection of workers.
“Our determination is making a change,” he said.
He cited new laws that have been implemented to prosecute those who place employees in unsafe conditions. He said there have been charges across the country.
“We are making changes and they are positive. Out of this tragedy there is good,” he said.
“We can’t ever bring back the lives of those who were lost in a moment, but we can at the very least, in their honour, ensure that nobody else dies in the same way.”