Debates of October 22, 2004 (day 26)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to all Members about the Canadian Young Worker Memorial Life Quilt that will be unveiled today at 12:00 noon in the Great Hall.

The memorial life quilt, Mr. Speaker, pays tribute to those young workers involved in a workplace injury.

The quilt was created in 2003 for the Day of Mourning and was sewn together by volunteer quilters from across Canada. The quilt is a lasting memorial to 100 young workers aged 15 to 24, who were killed at work. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, it spreads a powerful message about the importance of accident prevention in the workplace.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT and Nunavut have three panels affixed to the quilt for the young workers that lost their lives while on the job. They are Jason Stewart, Peter Barnabas and Michael Daniska. The families of these young workers will be present during the unveiling of the quilt. I invite all Members to pay their respects to both the families and the memorial life quilt later today.

The memorial life quilt has been brought to the NWT as a prelude to the WCB’s “What if You Couldn’t” National Young Workers’ Safety Conference that also commences today. Mr. Speaker, over 100 young workers and their supervisors representing seven provinces and territories along with six foreign countries will gather this weekend at the first ever North of 60 Youth Safety Conference hosted by the Workers’ Compensation Board.

I commend the WCB for taking the initiative and making prevention the focus for our northern young workers to stop the cycle of workplace injuries. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause