DAY OF MOURNING: 28 April: The image above is a photo montage of three Day of Mourning monuments: Edmundston (top), Atholville (bottom, left), and Moncton (bottom, right).
In 1984 the Canadian Labour Congress declared an annual Day of Mourning on 28 April for workers killed or injured on the job. This was part of a campaign for more attention to workplace health and safety, and in 1991 Parliament enacted the Workers Mourning Day Act. Workers in New Brunswick strongly supported the Day of Mourning, and as a result monuments were erected in several communities and are the site of ceremonies on 28 April every year. With the support of organized labour, in the year 2000 New Democratic Party Leader Elizabeth Weir introduced a bill in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, which resulted in the enactment of the provincial Workers Mourning Day Act.
To learn about the Day of Mourning in New Brunswick, see the map and links below:
More information about the Day of Mourning can be found at the Canadian Labour Congress website and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health website.
For more information about Day of Mourning monuments, see Ed Thomas, Dead But Not Forgotten: Monuments to Workers / Morts, mais pas oubliés: Les Monuments au Travailleurs (Hamilton, 2001).