Day of Mourning event returning to Centennial Park

It’s been a long time since the National Day of Mourning in Sarnia was marked at the Missing Worker Memorial in Centennial Park.

The annual April 28 event, for those who’ve been injured, become sick or died because of their jobs, was a mainstay for years at the waterfront memorial, created by artist Shawn McKnight in the late 1990s.

Toxic sludge, including asbestos, found in the park’s ground meant the memorial was fenced off for remediation in 2014, when the Day of Mourning included a walk-by from nearby Bayshore Park.

From 2015-19, the sombre ceremony moved to Sarnia’s East Street Fire Hall, then went virtual from 2020-22 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This month, after a decade away, the Day of Mourning returns to the park, at the memorial sculpture of a family left behind after a loved one’s death.

“It’s an unfortunately necessary day to recognize those who have been affected by workplace accidents and illnesses and injuries,” said labor council president Nick Dochstader of the day declared nationally by the Canadian Labor Congress in 1984.

“It’s nice to bring it back to the memorial that was designed for this event.”

Having families there to support each other and share their grievance is “more impactful, to say the least,” he said.

Speakers, including people telling their stories, and Aamjiwnaang First Nation drummers and dancers are expected for the 6 pm event, at which families will place flowers to honor their loved ones, he said.

But they will return to a memorial that isn’t quite the same, said Sandra Kinart.

She’s an organizer with Victims of Chemical Valley, a group of widows whose husbands were killed by things like asbestos exposure in the workplace, and who’ve fought for an asbestos ban, introduced in Canada in recent years, and resolution to outstanding Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) claims.

Jean Simpson, a founding member, who’d been fighting to resolve a claim for her husband Bud, who died in 1997, also recently died, Kinart said.

The group and others like it are working with Labor Minister Monte McNaughton to see decades-long injustices like Simpson’s resolved, she said. “(We’re) trying to get him to move these claims forward and have a more just and fair compensation system.”

When Centennial Park reopened in 2017, the memorial was not properly installed, she said. That’s been corrected, but a pergola, seating, fountain and electrical hookup that were part of the original are still in storage.

“We were told it would be put back and made whole again,” she said.

Because of remediation work, which capped contaminated soil beneath geotextile material and a half-meter of clean sand and top soil, the fountain can’t be reinstalled, Kinart said she’s been told.

“But they can still put some more cement down here. . . (and) put the pergola on top of that,” she said.

“Not having it put back and made whole is quite a disappointment, especially for the widows,” she said. “They don’t feel that this is what it was supposed to be.”

A mound of contaminated soil, capped and stored beside the memorial, to save the millions of dollars it would have taken to have it trucked away, is also a “slap in the face to the victims of this community, but they still put it here anyway,” she said.

Last month, at Mayor Mike Bradley’s urging, Sarnia council endorsed restoring the memorial and called for a staff report examining options.

Top city administrator Chris Carter noted staff are working with Day of Mourning organizers — including the Sarnia and District Labor Council, Victims of Chemical Valley, Workers Health & Safety Center and the Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers — to ensure there’s electrical and sound support for the event.

“We are working fully with them to ensure their event is a success,” he said.

It’s been difficult getting to this point, Kinart said, adding she and others have met with Carter previously to stress the memorial’s importance in the community.

“If they’re going to make plans to get this sorted out, I am so appreciative,” she said.