Mr. Speaker, if people were to travel to our community of Hamilton, Ontario and go to the corner of Main and Bay Streets, they would see a very stark monument.
It was made from a sheet of steel and has on it a visibly injured worker clinging by his fingers. This is a monument to workers injured or killed on the job or those suffering from occupational disease. It was erected on April 28, 1990.
The purpose of the monument's casting was not only to commemorate the loss of workers' lives but to remind us all of the risks taken by workers each and every day when they go to work.
Every day workers go to work expecting to return home to their families, but all too often they do not. In this modern age rush for productivity, mistakes are made, and workers trying to meet the new realities of the modern workplace often pay the ultimate price.
April 28 is not just a day for workers to stop and remember those who are dead, but also for all of us to recommit to fight for safer workplaces for all Canadians.