Day of Mourning shares message of preventing tragedy
Last year in Ontario, 227 people were killed on the job or died from an occupational disease.
“That person who went to work that morning probably didn’t have a chance to say to a loved one just how much they loved them … they never had a chance to come home,” Wayne Gates said Saturday.
The Niagara Falls MPP was among a number of people who addressed a crowd gathered at the fallen workers memorial at Niagara Falls city hall to mark the annual National Day of Mourning, which honours people who have lost their lives at the workplace.
“When you listen to the government talk, they say we have some of the safest workplaces in the world,” Gates said.
“Well, go and talk to some families who have lost loved ones, go and talk to the community. We have to do more because nobody should have to give up their life for a job in the province of Ontario.” LouAnn Binning, president of Niagara Regional Labour Council, said the National Day of Mourning is not only a day to remember people who have lost their lives due to a workplace tragedy, but also a day to demand improvements in health and safety in the workplace to prevent further deaths.
“We’re here today to mourn the dead but we’re also here to help the living,” she said.
“When we go to work in the morning, we pack our lunch and start our day. We want to be able to come home at the end of the day, with that empty lunch bag, and go home to our families, our children, our grandchildren.”
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati agreed.
“You deserve to go to work feeling safe and come home being safe. Your family should expect you to come home, not hope you come home.”
Gates said most workplaces tragedies are preventable and stressed the need for education so that future generations of employees know their rights.
“We have to make sure our young people know what their rights are when they go into that workplace,” he said. “That’s our obligation.”
April 28 was chosen as the date for the National Day of Mourning in 1984, when the Canadian Labour Congress proclaimed the day to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the day the first Ontario Workers’ Compensation Act was approved by the government.
Events were held across Canada on Saturday, including several in Niagara, to remember and honour people who have died, been injured or suffered illness in the workplace.
According to statistics from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, more than 900 workplace deaths were recorded in 2016 and 241,500 claims were accepted for lost time due to a work-related injury or disease.