Red Deer marks 2026 National Day of Mourning

Terence Schofield serves as chair of the Parkland Regional Safety Committee, and is also the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Manager at Red Deer Polytechnic.

Schofield was this year’s keynote speaker at the Red Deer event, which ended with the laying of wreaths at the Bower Ponds Fallen Worker Tribute site.

“The important thing is recognizing that we have to make change within our businesses, our organizations, and our communities, to reduce the risk of somebody getting hurt. Nobody wants to go to work to get hurt. That’s not their goal,” Schofield told rdnewsNOW before the ceremony.

“Their goal is to go to work, do a good job, get good pay, and go home and spend time with their families. So if they’re going to work and they’re getting hurt, or even worse, getting killed, then it hurts everybody.”

Lawanda Ramsey (right) and Pauline Klassen (left), with the Red Deer and District Labour Council, lay a wreath during the National Day of Mourning ceremony in Red Deer on April 28, 2026. (Image Credit: rdewsNOW/Josh Hall)

Schofield was a slightly different kind of keynote speaker for the event this year, which normally includes the loved ones or a coworker of someone who has passed.

Instead, Schofield spoke of his own experiences, which many years ago could have led to his own death on the job, or an incident involving others and caused by his actions.

His issues, he shared, included substance and alcohol abuse, to the point where he would show up at work “not present.”

One week, he literally didn’t show up for three days.

Upon his return to work, bosses gave him a choice: be suspended for three days or join his workplace’s safety committee.

The decision he made, and you can guess which it was, led to rapid personal growth, and ultimately, to becoming confident enough to take on the current safety roles he now manages.

“Every incident has a moment before it where someone saw or heard something, but didn’t say anything. That’s why today matters,” he told those in attendance.

“That’s why we do what we do. It’s not to make anyone feel guilty or to be fearful, but to remind us that we have that moment every day to speak up and acknowledge a risk or hazard.”

Schofield added he’s thankful every day fr the fact that in 18 years, he’s never had to make the call to another family about a worker incident.

On the mark that a workplace incident leaves, he concluded, saying, “Nobody should have to carry that burden.”

“We continue to remember because without remembering, you’re not going to move forward in the future. We will just end up repeating the past,” he added in the interview.

“By remembering, we’re learning from incidents that result in tragic loss. Learning from them so we don’t have another one is the key.”

According to the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), of the province’s 144 fatalities last year, 82 were related to occupational disease, 39 were from trauma, 20 involved a motor vehicle collision, and three others were uncategorized.

by Josh Hall

Red Deer marks 2026 National Day of Mourning

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