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Sad Day of Mourning for Penticton gatherers

Day of Mourning in Penticton
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Participants in the annual Day of Mourning take part in a moment of silence at the Friday observance. Mark Brett/Western News

Sadly at the end of last year’s National Day of Mourning emergency crews were called to what turned out to be a workplace death in Penticton.

That memory was still very fresh in the minds of the nearly 50 people who attended Friday’s annual service at the McLaren Park Arena grounds where a plaque pays tribute to others who have lost their lives and been injured on the job.

“I remember last year, as we ended our ceremony, there was an emergency call that occurred and many of Penticton’s first responders did what they do — which was attend a call for service,” Katherine Cook, City of Penticton CUPE unit chair told the group Friday. “Again those words do not truly reflect the reality what our first responders went to face, For they left this ceremony to go and deal with a work-place death.”

The fatality happened at a local car dealership and claimed the life of a 36-year man and according to Cook it was not only work-place death that year.

“So many lives changed forever because a worker went to their place of employment, as most of us do every work day, and did not come home at the end of the day,” said Cook.

She pointed out death is not the only danger workers face, there is also the risk of injury, physical as well as mental and that violence and harassment in the workplace is also not uncommon.

“As I said last year at this same spot, at this time it is easy to stand here and quote statistics, to pull up numbers about deaths and injuries at workplaces in Canada. But those statistics never speak to the reality of what those deaths and those injuries mean. The reality that those statistics are based on is the hard part.”

On April 28, 1991, Canada recognized its first National Day of Mourning for persons Killed or Injured in the workplace: a day where flags fly at half-mast. In the years since, more than 100 other countries have also adopted the observance known widely as Workers’ Memorial Day.

Speaking on behalf of the mayor and council Friday was chief administrative officer for the city, Peter Weeber.

“It’s a day of broken promises. We as an employer make a promise to take care of you mentally and physically and 158 promises were broken since the last time we met here,” he said about the number of workplace deaths in Canada during the past year. “We haven’t broken any promises with this organization (city) and that’s because we care about you and we depend on you to keep each other safe you have my commitment and the commitment of council that we will do whatever we can to keep you safe but you also have a responsibility to keep each other safe.

“You have my commitment, my personal commitment, so for another year I’m going to make a promise that we will do everything we can to get you home to your families and I hope to keep that promise but we need your help.”

Lynn Kelsey spoke at the end service about the man who died on this day last year and left the listeners with her plea: “Let’s not have another Quinn, please lets not have another Quinn.

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CUPE member and city worker Katherine Cook. Mark Brett/Western News
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City of Penticton Chief Administrative Officer Peter Weeber spoke to those gathered at the employer’s commitment. Mark Brett/Western News