'We have an ability to create change': Waterloo Region residents mourn those who never returned from work

April 28 is an emotional day for the Wyllie family as they honour their late family member.

“I just wish this had never happened,” said nine-year-old Charlotte Wyllie about her dad, James Wyllie. 

James Wyllie was 26 when he died in an industrial workplace accident on Aug. 27, 2015 in Guelph.

“He was up in we think was a cherry picker and his gear kind of had a malfunction and then it shot him right up in the air 30 feet,” said mother of Charlotte, Emily McGuffin. “There was a beam and it pressed him against and suffocated him until his last breath.”

“There was a coroner’s case and it was an accidental but there were things that could be put in place for instance, a belly guard because when he was thrusted against the beam, he was sardined in between that steel beam and the control panel…and he was unable to do anything,” said Wyllie’s mother, Anne Wyllie.

She says James was dedicated to his work, his family and friends and most importantly, his daughter Charlotte who was just 16 months old at the time of his death.

James Wyllie with his baby daughter before his death in August 2015. Submitted: Emily McGuffin.

On Sunday, Waterloo Region residents, workplace safety advocates, and politicians all gathered at the Worker’s Monument standing in Cambridge’s Riverside Park for the National Day of Mourning - a day to mourn those who never returned from work.

“The theme of this year is ‘Safe Work Now,’” said United Steelworkers National Director for Canada, Marty Warren. “It’s a call for change and reminder that we have waited long enough and it’s time to take action.”

“We have an ability to create change through action and hopefully folks take that away from our service today and recognize that,” said President of the Waterloo Region Labour Council, Jeff Pelich.

According to the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada, there were 993 workplace fatalities recorded in 2022, 33 of which were young workers aged 15-24.

“So last year in 2023, according to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, there was 269 fatalities and unfortunately, as was brought forward many times today, that's just a fraction of the reality of the numbers,” Pelich said. “We want to make sure that workers have access to personal protective equipment, that they ensure that all materials, whether they’re industrial or consumer, are properly labelled to make people aware of what the risks are.”

“Occupational diseases is the number one killer in the province so it's more about drawing focus on top of that and also on training,” said a spokesperson for the Workers Health and Safety Centre. “Other things workers and their representatives are pushing for is workplace and legislative change to protect against the growing peril of heatwaves and other extreme weather events. But as all occupational health and safety activists know, we also need to move the action upstream to the source of the hazard itself.”

One of the most recent local workplace fatality incidents led to a Kitchener company being fined $110,000 after a worker fell off a roof of a London home in April 2022.

The Ministry of Labour is investigating an incident in Petersburg, just outside Kitchener, after two Hydro One workers were hurt while working on a transmission tower. One of the workers was airlifted to hospital with critical injuries as a result of a fall.

During the 2024 National Day of Mourning, advocates are continuing to send a message to all employers that health and safety is a priority.

“I think the frustration is that the laws that are in place aren't being enforced to the degree that they are and I think we would like to see it, particularly at a provincial level, more unannounced safety blitzes so that employers don't know when the Ministry of Labour is coming to do an inspection to ensure that the laws and the regulations are being enforced,” Pelich said.

“Protecting Ontario workers in all sectors is a priority for our government, and we stand committed to ensuring that all workers return home safely at the end of their shift,” said MPP for Cambridge Brian Riddell. “Throughout our Work for Workers Act, we are providing ground breaking protection for workers. This act will allow millions of people, Ontarians, bigger paychecks and support newcomers in building our province. It's through this act that we're able to expand cancer coverage for our firefighters, which is so important including pancreatic and thyroid cancers.” 

Meantime, Anne and her family will continue to honour her son by advocating for safer working environments.

“As the slogan says, ‘we mourn for the dead and we fight for the living’. I truly believe in that.”