Mr. Speaker, three Canadian workers will be killed today while just doing their jobs. That is why in 1991 NDP MP Bob Rae introduced legislation to proclaim April 28 as the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job.
Started in Canada, it is now commemorated in more than 70 countries worldwide.
While statistics may highlight the violent deaths of men, women are no less at risk from violence and injury. In 2003, 110,000 Canadian women were injured and 37 Canadian women were killed while at work.
Our health care workers, most of them women, are especially vulnerable to injuries largely because of the lifting they are required to do, with injury rates higher than any other group of workers.
On April 28 I ask everyone to please join me in remembering those Canadians injured or killed in the line of work but, more important, every day honour the memory of those who have died on the job by committing to prevent work related injury and illness.