Mr. Speaker, the people of Canada no doubt noticed that our flag is at half mast today. The reason for this is the National Day of Mourning, held to remember the people who have been injured or killed on the job.
The aim of this day is to have us reflect on the importance of occupational health and safety. The figures are staggering. In Canada, some 800,000 accidents occur on the job every year, over 750 of which result in the death of the victim. This means that three workers are killed every working day.
Steps taken by the government resulted in an 11% reduction in the number of industrial accidents between 1993 and 1997. But one accident is one too many.
I would assure those who have lost a loved one in an industrial accident and those who suffer because of such accidents of our profound regret and of our conviction that such misfortunes must be avoided.