Iqaluit ceremony honours workers who died in 2024
3 Nunavut names added to book of remembrance on National Day of Mourning
Northern Territories Federation of Labour president Sara-Jayne Dempster, left, and Public Service Alliance of Canada North regional executive vice-president Josee-Anne Spirito speak at the podium Monday during the National Day of Mourning ceremony in Iqaluit. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Labour leaders from across the North gathered in Iqaluit Monday to pay tribute to workers who died on the job last year.
At least 40 people attended the National Day of Mourning ceremony at the Aqsarniit hotel, where a book of remembrance commemorated 11 workers who died last year in work-related incidents in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
Of those names, three were tied to Nunavut.
Noah Paniyuk, a Qulliq Energy Corp. employee who died during an incident in Naujaat last summer, was one of those names.
“Noah was a committed worker and union member,” said Jason Rochon, president of the Nunavut Employees’ Union, in a speech.
Rochon said Paniyuk’s loss has been felt not only by his colleagues, but also by “his family and the community he leaves behind.”
Christopher Best, one of the other Nunavut employees added to the book, was working at a radar station on Brevoort Island approximately 200 kilometres south of Iqaluit when he was killed in a polar bear attack last August.
Howard (Ted) Audrain, the third Nunavut name on the list, was a “historic” addition, said Sara-Jayne Dempster, president of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour.
Audrain was a pilot who was injured in Sanirajak in the 1960s but died of his injuries last year, Dempster said.
A book of remembrance lists 11 workers who died last year from incidents in Nunavut and Northwest Territories. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
The other eight names in the book are from incidents in the Northwest Territories last year, including the six victims of the Jan. 23, 2024 plane crash in Fort Smith.
“Every name is too many names. We would love to have a service where we have no names,” Dempster said.
She called on employers in the territories to make improvements to worker health and safety.
The 2024 list of workers who died was significantly longer than the one for 2023, which only had the names of Maya Bhatia — a researcher who died while conducting field work in Grise Fiord — and N.W.T. firefighter Adam Yeadon.
The book of workers who died is kept at the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission office in Iqaluit. It is brought out once a year to be displayed April 28 on the National Day of Mourning.
All my respect and sympathies to those who died in the course of their work, and every loved one they left behind.
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Dempster is correct in saying even one name is too much, and we should all be vigilant in ensuring safety for everyone – in the course of their work or in our communities generally.