Sunday marks Canada’s National Day of Mourning and on April 28 there will be an assembly at 2 p.m. outside the Clifford Hansen Fire Station on East Street.
“It’s a time for friends and families to gather and memorialize folks that have passed away or fight for those with an occupational disease or had an injury that changed their life in some way.
The slogan of the Day of Mourning is mourn the dead and fight for the living,” says Nick Dochstader, president of the Sarnia and District Labour Council.
Coming together for the event are the Sarnia and District Labour Council, Workers Health and Safety Centre, Victims of Chemical Valley (VOCV) and the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW).
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, Sandra Kinart, the head of VCOV, and Steve Butterfield, the manager of instruction and accreditation at Lambton BASES, will speak at the event.
“Each year we try to have a focus on something a little different at our day of mourning,” Dochstader tells the Journal. “So we were coming up with ideas to focus on locally here and at the forefront of everyone’s conversation is mental health and Lambton BASES has spearheaded a campaign to remove the stigma around mental health. That’s the kind of advocacy we try to bring…more importantly we want people to go home the way that they came to work and that’s safe.”
In 1984 the Canadian Labour Congress declared a National Day of Mourning and chose April 28th since it was the 70th anniversary of the day the government approved the first Ontario Worker’s Compensation Act. Canada’s leadership with this initiative has now made the day of mourning recognized in over 100 countries.
Dochstader sees the day in Sarnia as one for people to come together and reflect. “The people who deal with these [occupational death and illness] they deal with them every day. They are constantly reminded that this love one isn’t there anymore, or that love one has been injured to the point their life isn’t the same anymore….this one day a year is an opportunity for these people to come together and share their stories and meet other people that might be in a similar situation.