A member of the Red Deer Construction Association places a wreath under the Fallen Worker Tribute at the National Day of Mourning Ceremony at Bower Ponds. (Alessia Proietti/rdnewsNOW)

By Alessia Proietti

"No job is worth your life"

Red Deerians gather for National Day of Mourning at Bower Ponds

Apr 28, 2022 | 5:16 PM

Wynny Sillito didn’t just witness a workplace injury; she helped prevent it turning fatal as an emergency responder.

However, it didn’t prevent her from experiencing other casualties of the accident.

“There is not a single job in the entire world that is worth your life,” she said.

She shared her story to Red Deerians gathered at the Bower Ponds Stage on a sunny Thursday, for this year’s National Day of Mourning ceremony.

At 11 a.m., the ceremony honored not only workers who have lost their lives on the job, but also for those who have lost a part of themselves due to a workplace incident, potentially suffering from injury, illness, or grief. According to the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board, 178 workers died in the province while on the job in 2021, 28 more than in 2020.

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Working at a sour gas facility in Alberta as a 23-year-old, Sillito described feeling that something wasn’t right the morning of the incident, but regretted not saying anything. Later that day, the operator was doused in a toxic chemical used by the plant to melt solid sulfur.

Wynny Sillito shares her story at the National Day of Mourning Ceremony at the Bower Ponds Stage. (Alessia Proietti/rdnewsNOW)

Sillito flushed the skin on his face to free his airway as the operator repeatedly said he wanted to make it home to his wife; which he, fortunately, later did. Sillito, on the other hand, went home with what she thought was frostbite from the cold winter, but in reality she had been chemically burned from the fumes, on her arms, hands, face, and scalp.

“Every morning when I look in the mirror, I’m taken right back to that spot and I can very vividly smell the chemical burning his skin,” she said.

Brad Vonkeman, Chair of the Parkland Regional Safety Committee, part of the Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA), and host of the event, says people may not truly understand just how dangerous a job can be.

“Bringing awareness to it hopefully means other people are thinking about it. When they put safety in place, people need to realize how important it actually is, because people don’t come home at the end of the day if we don’t,” he said.

The ceremony then moved across the stage’s path to the Fallen Worker Tribute where guests laid wreaths in remembrance, followed by the grand opening of the Fallen Worker Legacy Park. A new annual tradition, ribbons were cut for the three fruit trees planted in memory of those killed on the job.

One tree was specifically planted for Dr. Walter Reynolds, killed by a patient in 2020 while working at the Village Mall Walk-In Clinic in Red Deer. Reynolds’ wife Anelia was present to cut the ribbon.

Dr. James McIntyre and Anelia, wife of late-Dr. Walter Reynolds, cut the ribbon of the fruit tree planted in his name. (Alessia Proietti/rdnewsNOW)

The idea of planting fruit trees was credited to previous Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer, also present and in uniform as Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the 41^st Signal Regiment with the Canadian Armed Forces.

Other speakers included representatives from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety and Olymel food processing. Front-line workers such as firefighters and police officers were also in attendance, among others.

Four Red Deer city councillors were in attendance: Dianne Wyntjes, Bruce Buruma, Cindy Jefferies, and Lawrence Lee.

In a statement Thursday, Friends of Medicare acknowledged front-line health care workers who’ve passed away or were injured throughout the pandemic, and highlighted the need for better prevention.

“These numbers are a stark reminder of the human cost of inaction. Even one injury is too many,” the organization said. “Workplace injuries cost tens of billions of dollars to Canada’s health care systems each year. Preventing workplace injuries is crucial for the long-term health of our economy, communities and public medicare.”

Signs spread across the new Fallen Worker Legacy Park of workers who passed away on the job. (Alessia Proietti/rdnewsNOW)

“It’s not enough to mourn for workers killed injured or made sick at work. We must fight like hell for the living,” said the Alberta Union of Provincial Employers in a separate release.

The day was launched in 1985 by the Canadian Labour Congress, and became a federal observance in 1990.

READ: National Day of Mourning Ceremony in Red Deer April 28

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