Mr. Speaker, Sunday, April 28 will be a special day. It will mark the 11th annual national Day of Mourning. The day is a unique occasion to commemorate those who have been killed or injured in the workplace and to sympathize with their families and friends.
The significance of the national Day of Mourning becomes even clearer when we look at the staggering statistics for 1999: close to 800 deaths and nearly 900,000 injuries. That is an average of three workers killed every working day and one worker injured every nine seconds.
I rise today to ask all hon. members to take time to remember the workers who lost their lives or were injured on the job in the past years and to remind all Canadians that occupational safety is everybody's concern. We pay tribute to those we remember by putting forth our best efforts to strive for safer and healthier workplaces through continued education, awareness and co-operation.