Vernon Marks National Day of Mourning

Apr 26, 2019 | 4:52 PM

Dozens of people gathered at Vernon City Hall today for a National Day of Mourning ceremony — honoring workers affected by workplace injury and death.

WorkSafeBC says 131 lives in the province were lost to work place accidents last year and four of those deaths occurred in our region.

WorkSafe B.C. says 4 people died from illness or workplace injury in our region last year #Vernonbc #NationalDayOfMourning pic.twitter.com/8BDyM8nl65

— Vernon Matters (@VernonMattersca) April 26, 2019

RCMP Superintendent Shawna Baher, as well as representatives from the city and fire department, spoke on the importance of making sure that workers are safe both physically and mentally while on the job.

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@VernonNOkRCMP Superintendent Shawna Baher speaking on the importance of #DayOfMourning pic.twitter.com/Ok1wndE6uG

— Vernon Matters (@VernonMattersca) April 26, 2019

RCMP Superintendent Shawna Baher stressed that it is important for everyone to recognize that workplace injuries aren’t just physical but mental as well. She adds that for years the RCMP carried an image of being tough, but that often meant putting mental health issues on the back burner.

She says the RCMP has made huge strides over the years with recognizing mental health in the workplace.

” For us it is about the realization that you can have a mental health issue, PTSD, or depression or something like that and it is just as debilitating as a physical injury in fact even more. A lot of policemen don’t want to admit that there is something wrong with them and as a result of that they’ll just hide it or they will try and figure it out themselves.”

Baher says taking care of officers’ mental health is top of mind at the Vernon detachment, and she regularly encourages all officers to make mental health a priority in their lives.

” What I say to the members is I want you to join the force and by the day you retire I want you to be as healthy as the day you started, because I think as an employer we have to give that to our people and give them those opportunities to heal.”

The City of Vernon echoed similar statements and said that workplace safety is a continuous priority.

“There’s a lot of work that we’ve done and a lot of work to do to ensure safety,” said City Councillor Kelly Fehr. “We will continue to do whatever we can to provide a safe working environment for our staff, and not just for city employees but for everyone who has a workplace in Vernon or works within our community.”

The National Day of Mourning is a movement that started in 1983 by the Canadian Labour Congress.

In 1990 the Canadian government passed the workers mourning day act which solidified April 28 as the official day of mourning.

Over 100 countries around the world recognize the day and hold similar ceremonies.

(Tiffany Goodwein photo)