
Liberals showed workers 'total disdain' by holding election on National Day of Mourning, advocates say
The leader of a Hamilton community organization says the date chosen for the federal election shows a lack of concern for workers, given that it's widely known the National Day of Mourning is observed every year on April 28.
Darren Green, president of the Hamilton Steelworkers Area Council, said as early as March 13 when there was talk that the election could possibly be called for that day he made an appeal on social media for the Prime Minister's Office to consider choosing another day.
"It's about them actually being insensitive to the workers' needs. I mean, it's total disdain, it shows their lack of empathy and their disdain for the working people, of the working families of Canada," Green told CBC Hamilton.
"Somebody in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) should have known that April 28th is the International Day of Mourning. That it's just unconscionable that they would pick that day to have their election... Why that day? It's just insensitive."
The Hamilton Steelworkers Area Council is a community organization based in Hamilton, that's dedicated to supporting and advocating for steelworkers in the region.
CBC News has reached out to the PMO for comment but got no response by deadline.
Injured on the job: 2 Hamilton workers tell their story
2 years ago
Duration 1:57
Two Hamilton workers suffering from longterm workplace injuries talk about how they got injured and the advice they have for younger workers.
At a news conference in Hamilton on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told CBC Hamilton that the government values the rights of workers.
"We value their contribution to society and … we will honour them every single day," Joly said.
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), the National Day of Mourning is a day to remember and honour lives lost or injured due to a workplace tragedy. It's also a day to collectively renew our commitment to improving health and safety in the workplace and to preventing further injuries, illnesses and deaths.
In 1991, eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Parliament of Canada passed the Workers Mourning Day Act making April 28 an official Day of Mourning, CCOHS said on its website. Today the Day of Mourning has since spread to more than 100 countries around the world and is recognized as Workers' Memorial Day, and as International Workers' Memorial Day by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
"It is the hope of CCOHS that the annual observance of this day will help strengthen the resolve to establish safe and healthy conditions in the workplace, and prevent further injuries, illnesses, and deaths," CCOHS said.
"As much as this is a day to remember those who have lost their lives, it is also a call to protect the living and make work a place where people are safe and can thrive."
'One of the most important dates on the labour calendar'
Meanwhile, Green said April 28 is "a sacred day and one of the most important dates on the labour calendar," not only in Canada but throughout the world.
"It's a day where we come together and remember those who have been killed or injured on the job or who've been made ill by workplace sickness," he said. "And the families of these workers that have been injured or killed or made sick, they commemorate the day."
'We are very upset and frustrated'
Marvin Mulder has been unable to work for the last 15 years after suffering a spinal cord injury while working for a moving company.
Mulder says he and others have long felt "forgotten" and having an election on the day set aside to honour lost and injured workers has only added to their frustration.
"We are very upset and frustrated with the day of the election," Mulder, who serves as spokesman for the Hamilton and District Injured Workers Group, told CBC Hamilton.
"This is supposed to be a solemn day. It's [one of] very few that injured workers or people who have died on the job are recognized.
"So, the fact that they've called an election this kind of says we're not a thought, in my mind, you know, that day is just a political day for them … and now that we have an election we're just, again, forgotten," he said.
Mulder said a lot of injured workers throughout Ontario have voiced frustration over the issue.
This is an extremely important date. - Teddy Bobrowski, Thunder Bay, Ont., resident
Thunder Bay Ont., resident and long time injured worker Teddy Bobrowski, said it "shows a total lack of respect" to hold the election on April 28.
Bobrowski told CBC Hamilton he "was literally furious" when the date was announced.
"I thought a lot of people aren't gonna notice this, but, you know, for the families that have lost members of their family due to deaths on the job, this is an extremely important date," he said.
"And then there's other ones like myself that are seriously injured, but not passed away, but still it's a very important date. We go out every year and celebrate this day, and we lay roses here in our epitaph that we have for workers killed on the job.
"So, for the government to just be so casual about it …. I don't even know if they realized it till after they called the election on that date that they had made a faux pas," Bobrowski added.
The Ontario Network of Injured Workers' Group, a provincial voice for injured workers, said calling a federal election on the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job shows a lack of respect for the victims of workplace illness or injury.
"The government of Canada would never hold a national election on Remembrance Day, November 11th out of respect for the veterans and their families. That is why so many Canadians feel disrespected by calling an election on the National Day of Mourning for Workers who were killed or injured on the job," the group said in a statement to CBC News.
Commemoration ceremony planned for city hall
Meanwhile, Green said each community commemorates the day differently, with ceremonies held throughout Canada at different times and different locations.
In Hamilton, he said the Steelworkers Area Council will hold a meeting during the day. This will be followed by a vigil and commemoration at city hall at 5:30, organized by the Hamilton and District Labour Council, and the laying of wreaths at the injured workers monument at Main and Bay streets.
"For the steelworkers here in Hamilton, we have an area council meeting quarterly and we always meet on April 28th," Green said.
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Edmonton Journal
14 hours ago
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In the middle of a high-stakes deportation hearing against an alleged Mafia boss living in Canada, the government unexpectedly declared it will no longer rely on any evidence obtained from controversial Italian police wiretaps covertly made using the phones of visiting members of a mob family to Canada. Article content The announcement Friday threatens to derail yet another attempt to deport Vincenzo (Jimmy) DeMaria, a man accused of being a Mafia boss in Ontario who has successfully fought off deportation for more than 40 years. Article content Article content Article content An Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) hearing is underway on the government's latest attempt to deport DeMaria based on allegations he is a member of the 'Ndrangheta, the proper name of the powerful Mafia that formed in Italy's region of Calabria. DeMaria has denied the allegation. Article content Article content Lawyers for DeMaria had repeatedly called for the Italian police wiretaps to be rejected, calling them illegal foreign interference. On Friday, however, they said the government's sudden agreement in the middle of the hearing was absurd. Article content 'What we have here is an abuse of process by the minister (of public safety),' said Shoshana Green, one of DeMaria's three lawyers at the hearing. Article content 'It is an absurdity that the minister, on a whim, is changing the nature of this entire hearing. How can Mr. DeMaria properly prepare for a matter when they are literally changing the foundation of their case four days in?' Article content Article content Green said information from the wiretaps has already been extensively 'co-mingled' with other evidence entered in the case over years, including in two days of testimony earlier this week by a senior police officer from Italy who was the government's first witness at this hearing against DeMaria. Article content Article content Green asked Benjamin Dolin, the IRB member deciding the matter, to issue a stay of proceedings, which would suspend the government's appeal of an earlier immigration board decision to allow DeMaria to remain in Canada, where he has lived since moving from Italy as an infant. Article content 'Or in the alternative, we would certainly consent to the minister abandoning their appeal,' Green said. Article content Andrej Rustja, arguing on behalf of Canada Border Services Agency, said that after reviewing its strategy for the case Thursday night, the government decided to not rely on the wiretaps recorded by Italian police in Canada in 2019 and told DeMaria's lawyers as a courtesy and to save time at the hearing.