Saint John honours National Day of Mourning with ceremony at Rockwood Park

Over 150 residents flocked to Rockwood Park in Saint John, N.B., on Sunday to pay their respects on the National Day of Mourning.

Held each year on April 28 since 1991, the day serves to commemorate workers who have died or been injured while on the job, as well as their friends and families who have been affected by these instances.

“It’s a very respectful and moving ceremony we have every year,” says Pat Riley, who served as the master of ceremonies for the ceremony and is also on the Hatheway Board of Trustees at the Frank & Ella Hatheway Labour Exhibit Museum.

“It’s because of the participants. Family members, union members, employers also joining in, and also recognized that we need to not only mourn for the dead but fight for the living.”

Guest speakers, including a representative from WorkSafeNB, shared their experiences with workplace related injuries and the importance of minimizing them, if not to eliminate the risks entirely.

Dozens of wreaths were then laid around the Workers Monument in Rockwood Park to honour the fallen. Those laying the wreaths including Saint John MP Wayne Long, various union groups, Saint John Fire, as well as family members and friends who laid wreaths to remember loved ones who passed as a result of a workplace incident.

A moment of silence was also held to remember the dead.

If there is one thing people took away with them from the ceremony, Riley hopes its for residents to always dig deeper into why and how these instances occur.

“To remember that when we have workplace accidents or workplace illnesses we can investigate what the causes were of those tragedies,” he says. “We must all work together to do the best we can in preventing those tragedies from happening again in the future.”

Flags at city-owned facilities, including city hall, were flown at half-mast on Sunday in recognition of the National Day of Mourning.

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