We are here to grieve and mourn that one worker in Ontario is killed on the job nearly every day.

We often fail to recognize and appreciate the dangers in many of our workplaces. Many Nipissing area residents work in forestry, construction and mining. These are some of Canada’s most dangerous occupations, with many workers killed or seriously injured every year throughout the North. We often forget the dangers working people face every day in order to provide us with the necessities of life like wood and metal and food and housing.

Other dangers are faced by those who serve the public. The death last winter of the volunteer transporting anglers on the lake was but one example. There are many hazards for public service workers. Hospital workers, shelter workers, jail guards, garbage collectors, health care workers, fire fighters, police, social workers, hydro line workers, and many other trades and professions face serious hazards on the job every day in the name of public service.

On April 28 we pay tribute to the memory of those who have died in workplace accidents or from occupational disease. We remind ourselves on that day that it is important to continue to “Mourn the Dead, and to Fight for the Living.”

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Westray Mine disaster, in which 26 workers at the Nova Scotia mine lost their lives. While terrible accidents like these get so much coverage in the media, workers throughout Canada suffer injury and death daily in workplaces throughout the province.

In 2001, there were 262 workplace fatalities in Ontario, and there have been 27 more since the beginning of 2002. Since 1988, when the Ontario Legislature passed the NDP resolution to officially observe a Day of Mourning for workers, there have been 3,931 recognized workplace deaths in Ontario.

In response to this problem, the current government has introduced legislation that hurts workers even more. They have changed the law so that workers can be forced to work 60 hours/week, to work 12 days straight, and even to give up the right to a half-hour lunch break in the middle of their shift. They have weakened the unions – the very organizations that protect workers – by forcing employers to post information about decertifying unions.

They repealed Bill 40, the NDP’s law that banned the hiring of replacement workers during strikes.

As a result of these regressive initiatives, workplace deaths have steadily increased from 230 deaths in 1997 to 293 deaths in 2000.

While we reflect on the memory of those who lost their lives on the job in Ontario, it’s worth thinking about what the NDP is doing to fight for the living. The NDP has always walked with unions to strengthen workplace health and safety standards and protect labour rights.

In December, the NDP labour critic Peter Kormos responded to the growing number of tragic workplace deaths by demanding that the government force employers to post information about workers’ rights to refuse dangerous work without penalty.

In response, Minister Stockwell said “sure”.

When Mr. Kormos pressed further for a promise as to when the information would be posted, Minister Stockwell said, “as quickly as humanly possible.” To date, this has not happened, and workers continue to be hurt and killed on the job.

The Ontario NDP continues to press the Conservative Government to follow through on that promise, and will continue to do so until they have made this important change for Ontario workers.

To further the fight for worker safety, the Federal NDP introduced Bill C-284, which would amend the criminal code to hold corporations liable when they fail to provide safe working conditions for employees or are willfully negligent.

While we organize and fight for the living, it is fitting that today we observe a moment of silence in memory of those who lost their lives on the job in Ontario. Our thoughts are with their families and friends.

Finally, I leave you with this thought. While the Conservative government continues to put workers’ lives in danger by refusing to fulfill its own promises, we have to fight for the living by building and supporting a strong trade union movement.

Despite what you may hear from some, unions are as important today as ever to the well-being of our workers and communities. Attacks on the labour movement hurt all our families. The NDP and I stand with you in your fight for workplace safety and justice.

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